Neptune's Honour
by RomanLegacy6447
Summary: Percy is born a son of Neptune and is tasked with bringing honour to his family name. He will make friends and enemy's along the way, but will they all stay loyal. Eventual Pereyna although hints of Reyson at the beginning.
1. The march to camp

I was walking through a burned down house I woke up in, when I heard a loud growl come from behind me. Instinctively I I've to the side just as a giant wolf lunged right where I'd been a second ago. I picked up a stick I found on the ground and went to swat it away when a female voice roared at us

"Enough! Perseus, you are not in harm's way. And Roctu...be gone"! I looked for a woman but only found a female wolf flanked by dozens of other wolves.

"How can I know to trust you"? I asked still on edge.

"Because I sent you here". I turned around and saw my father Neptune looking at me.

"Why. What is this place. Who are they"? I asked.

"You know you are a demigod right? This is Lupa. She trains all heroes that come through here and sends them to Camp Jupiter. It is a training facility for Roman demigods like you. You will be here for a couple of weeks until you are fully trained. Perseus… I'm not respected at Camp Jupiter, I hope you can help bring some honour back to Neptune's name". His voice softened as he spoke the last line.

"I will do you proud father". I answered determined to honour my father and bring the title of The Son Of Neptune to a once again high rank. My father gave me a hug and flashed away.

"Now, time to begin the training". Lupa said now in her human form.

"Bring it on".

Line Break

It has been 4 months since I was dropped off at the wolf house. My training has been going great and Lupa said that I'd be able to make a name for myself in no time. I finished the last of my train yesterday and am now on my way to the Cat-de-Cough tunnel or whatever it's called. I was getting to a not very busy highway and under the tunnel I saw two people in armour guarding a door. I ran up to them when suddenly I heard a large screech from behind me. I turned around and was face to face with a huge monster I hoped to never see. I was staring down with the hydra. I rolled to the side just as the hydra blew fire at where I was standing. I looked back and saw both demigods had disappeared into the tunnel. I pulled out my pen from my pocket with engraving 'corrente di ritorno' which translates from Italian to riptide in English. As my Aquamite diamond sword finished transforming I realized that I didn't have fire to cauterize the stumps. I looked at the tunnel door and saw a blue flame lit 'Roman fire' I thought to myself I ran and grabbed the torch before I could be toasted. As I ran back I jumped over its flame and sliced one of its heads of and quickly used the torch to prevent it from growing any more. I did this for three of the seven heads until it got smart. I waited for it to attack but it never did. Impatient I tried charging it but as I was running it singed my left leg. I still managed to get one of its heads(due to my invulnerability to fire) but as I cauterized it, the hydra smacked the torch away and sent it into the river behind him.

"THE RIVER"! I exclaimed remembering who my father was I dashed towards it and jumped into the water with it rejuvenating me. As the hydra stomped over, I sliced it's head off with my blade and will the water to cover the stump so no heads would grow back. It's last two heads screeched and rushed into the water. As it charged I used the water to propel me upwards onto its back and ride it like a horse. As it flailed trying to get me off I managed to climb one of it's necks and slice of a head. The other head turned and shot a blast of fire at me just as I jumped causing it to cauterize it's own wound. I only had one head left and this would be hard as we were now back at the tunnel. I slashed and jabbed at its last head but it now had more space to dodge. I went for a finishing blow but it smacked me across the highway. As I was descending I took my bow from off my back and sniped it's final head before smashing into the wall across from the camp soldiers. As he blacked out he saw the hydra dissolve into golden dust. And the campers surround him.

 ** _I know that its not as good as my other story, but i just have to get into the flow of it. Percy and co. are only 8 in this and I have set the legion age minimum to 9. This way Percy can develop his friendships before actually being put into the legion. I will 99% make this a Pereyna and Jasomeone. Percy will not be as stern and strict as the other romans as i dont want him to be too ooc. Also i have 4 other stories coming within the next week maybe 3. See my profile to know what they are._**


	2. Findings and Speculation

**Dakota Pov**

I was standing guard for the entrance to new Rome with a girl named Alyssa. She was about 5,6" with medium cut dirty blonde hair, and pink eyes. She was wearing her imperial gold armour and held her gladius and her shield. She was only eight years old, but she could fight pretty well for a daughter of Venus. Although admittance to legion is capped at 10 years old minimum, guard duty was for eight and up. It seemed like a pretty quiet day, as usual. I don't think we've had any arrivals through this entrance to new Rome in the 4 years I've been on guard duty. Just as I was about to doze off like I normally do, I noticed a boy running down a hill. His clothes looked pretty tattered, and i remembered coing that way from the wolf house when i first arrived. I fogured he was a demigod andwas about to call him over when I saw a giant monster swoop down behind him I stood in shock staring at the Hydra before i regained control of my body. I grabbed Alyssa's arm and pulled her into the entrance and began sprinting to New Rome.

"What are you doing, he needs our help"! She was fuming at the fact that I left that boy by himself. I turned and saw her glaring at me with a red face.

"Do you think that the three of us could take down the hydra? Cause I'm pretty sure we need a few hundred more people"! I screamed. We exited the tunnel and were reching the pomerium lines. We grabbed the conch horn on the wall beside Terminus' pedestal. Camp put one there in case of any emergency attacks coming from outside, and gaurds needed to call the army quick if we didnt have time to take off our amour and drop our weapons. I waited about 2 minutes until I saw the 5 cohorts being lead by our Praetors Justin and Amanda. Justin was tall and had a medium skin tone, he was very well built due to his intense training, and had raven black hair, accompanied with baby blue eyes. He was the son of Virtus, the god of bravery and military strength. Amanda was also somewhat tall, with flowey auburn hair, midnight blue eyes, and a more pale complexion. She was the daughter of the war goddess Victoria, the goddess of victory and battle prowess. They were both at the age of 16 and in their 6th year of participating in New Rome's army. They rode out on Pegasus and pulled up to a stop after reaching us.

"What is the emergency"? Amanda inquired. She was the head praetor and always the first to speak.

"There was a boy coming from the wolf house, however he was followed by the hydra". I answered.

"Where is he"? This time Justin asked. I just lowered my head and he seemed to understand.

"I couldn't get to him in time, or else the hydra would've come with him". They nodded and began charging through the tunnel. I slowly slipped back to my cohort of number 5, and got behind my centurions. When we got out of the tunnel I saw the boy fending off the now one headed hydra. Before we could help, the hydra smacked the boy into a far wall. As he was in mid-air, he took his bow off of his back, and severed his final head. The hydra dissolved in golden dust as we all stood there, shocked. We quickly got over our amazement and had Apollo campers rush towards the kid. They got him on a stretcher and we returned to New Rome, leaving a few children of Vulcan to clean up. This new kid had to have been the son of a titan or a primordial. Nobody his age could do something like that. Not even Jason Grace or Reyna Arellano had an entrance that spectacular. That kids for sure going to the 1st cohort.

Line Break

 **3rd Person Pov**

As the campers rushed Percy to the infirmary, a few of the juniors snuck out to see what was going on.

"What do you think happened"? A boy named Frank said. He was an unclaimed demigod, though most likely a son of Apollo.

"Maybe he was attacked on his way". A girl, Gwen said. She was the daughter of Ceres, and a fairly good fighter.

"I wonder what attacked him, and If he killed it, or if he's dead, and how he killed it if he did, and-"

"Alright Reyna, we get it. But we know whatever attacked him was strong, maybe it was a pack of hellhounds". Jason a son of Jupiter stated, cutting off Reyna. Reyna was always curious when it came to fights. Always wanting to know what to do and what not to, a trait of children of Bellona.

"How do you know it was strong"? Another girl, Hazel said. She was a daughter of Pluto, rare for Camp Jupiter.

"Because they used the camp horns for emergencies". He answered.

"Why don't we ask Alyssa". Gwen suggested. Everybody agreed and they set off to find her. They eventually saw her in front of the Senate house, waiting nervously.

"What happened". Reyna asked, getting straight to the point.

"I'm not allowed to say". She responded. "They'll get me in trouble". She was referring to the Praetors. Reyna was about to say something when a Lare came out.

"It's time to speak with the council". He said, motioning inside. Alyssa waved and walked in as we waited outside.

 ** _AN. So im not going to do the ancient greece thing, as i had difficulty trying to find a way for Percy to get back there wothout being born there as i want him to stay him. I will instead be replacing it with an Oc story I have written the first chapter of. It will feture the Ocs from Freshmen year and although the first chapter doesnt actually have them in it, it sets up the prophecy and a little fun thing i thought of. Hope you enjoy chapter 2, even if it was just to introduce the main charectors in the story. Peace._**


	3. Council Meeting

Amanda POV

Of course today couldn't be normal! This stupid demigod just had to ruin my day with his stupid Hydra! Now I have to speak to the council about what to do with him! And he's probably a child of the big three, and gods forbid it's Neptune! I don't have anything against him, but the Lares will have a fit. I saw Alyssa and Dakota walk in and decides to start the meeting.

"Silence! Thank you. Dakota, I have called you here to explain what happened outside. How did you two defeat a hydra?" He looked proud, but it quickly turned to sadness.

"We didn't. The boy did." This brought the meeting into ruins. Lares were screaming, Elders were arguing, Centurions were fighting. It took me and Justin 13 minutes to get them to calm down. One of the elder counselors, a son of Mars stood up.

"No offence my Praetor, but how the hell did an 8 year old untrained demigod defeat a hydra?"

"I agree it sounds extremely unlikely, but what other explanation is there? Dakota and Alyssa didn't defeat it, and a god can't interfere. It might not sound likely but it happened." I said. Justin decided to add on.

"Now this does bring some questions, mostly about who his godly parent is, and if he is a danger to the camp. Amanda and I will keep close watch on him to make sure he won't try anything." He sat down and winked at me. He didn't really think the boy was a threat, he just said that to ease the people's minds. Before the hatred could escalate.

 ** _AN. Okay I know this is short as shit, but its just what i had written before, just like my son of chaos story. Also just like that story the next chapter will be wayyyyy better, with 1 thousand words or more. I also am goimg to get this to 5 chapters, then write the first 5 of my Percy, Nico, and Jason on Olympus story. See you very soon._**


	4. New friends

**Percy PoV** I woke up in a large room, with two rows of bed on each side. There was about 60 beds in total, with a cabinet filled with medical appliances in between each. At the end of every bed was a medical cart containing nectar and ambrosia. I was on the far right of the row, and right next to the door. A few beds down, there was a 17 ish looking boy, hair so yellow it looked like somebody drew it with a crayon, baby blue eyes, and an olive skin tone. He was about 6'2, and was thin and fit. He had a scar reaching from the center of his wrist, travelling 3 inches towards his shoulder. He was holding a pill container with no label, and what looked like Finding Nemo gummy vitamins inside. He was wearing cerulean blue jeans and a gold shirt saying 'Shine bright like a diamond. I was wondering what a seemingly normal person was doing in here, before he ate a handful of the pills. He was here for insanity I guess. "Aren't those supposed to be for injured campers?" I questioned.

"Huh! Oh, no these are just candies." He replied. "I just keep them in this bottle since we're not allowed to have snacks."

"Nobody thinks it's weird that you carry a bottle of pills with you?" Either everyone here was stupid, or they just thought he had addiction and didn't care.

"Well, I'm the main doctor here so, it kinda goes with the job." Doctor? This kid doesn't look older than 18 and he somehow graduated medical school.

"How are you a doctor? You're only like, 17." My mind was spinning. Although that could be part of why I was here. Wait, why was I here? I remember getting knocked out, and seeing a group of teenagers run towards me.

"Didn't you meet Lupa? I'd hope you'd know about demigods after you did out there." Memories came flooding back like a the hoover dam. I saw pictures of me as a baby, my parents standing over the crib. I saw my first birthday, when my dad was reading me stories about Hercules. I saw my first day of preschool. My father came to pick me up, and saw me playing with a large black dog I found. Then there was the day when my father told me that mythology was real. He taught me all about ancient Rome, and all of the different gods. I saw the day I took my final 'exam' of my father's teachings when I was 9. Pictures of a burnt down house, and a female wolf lady entered my mind. Finally, the battle with the hydra. Me using the blue 'Roman fire' to keep the heads from reforming. Then hitting it's final head before I slammed into a wall. "You ok dude?" The doctor asked.

"Yeah. I think I'm just a bit light headed." I hope I don't have a concussion.

"I'd hope so. It's a miracle you don't have brain damage. To make a hole that deep, most people might not even wake up."

"How long was I sleeping?" I hope my dad wasn't worrying too much about me.

"About 2 days. Boy...you sure made a mess of the legion. This is just gonna make it worse.

"What do you mean I made a mess of the legion?"

"Most of them want you dead. Or at least put in the 5th cohort. They're scared of you, think you're the child of a titan. You know those right?"

"They're the gods parents right?"

"For the most part, yeah."

"Why do they think that?"

"Dude, you took down the Hydra by yourself. Even the son of Jupiter that got here a few months ago didn't put on a show like that."

"Show? There was people around?"

"No. I just meant like...nevermind. You've just had the best entrance to camp anyone here has ever seen."

"Oh. So people want me dead."

"Hey. Cheer up dude. That's only the old Lares and Legacies. Our Praetors and Centurions think you'd be a great help to the legion. Especially after you get proper training."

"Do you think I'm dangerous?" I was beginning to get scared, and sad. People didn't want me here. They think I'm too dangerous.

"Would I be here talking to you if I didn't like you. Other than the fact that it's my job." I laughed. He gave me a warm smile and got off the bed.

"Listen, most of the legionnaires are going to hate you. Most will even try to fight you. Just ignore them and focus on training as much as you can. And if you ever have real trouble, come to me. I'll help you as much as you need."

"Why are you helping me?" I was weary. I felt like he was part of an ambush to kill me. He gave me a soft smile and answered.

"Because I know what it's like to be you. I was the only unclaimed legionnaire until I turned 15. I didn't even get claimed until I used my powers during a fight. But I'll tell you that the next time you're in here. I have a sad feeling it won't be too long." He walked off to the door before he stopped. "You'll want to head to the principal now. The Praetors aren't expecting you for another couple days. Why not show just how powerful you are." With that, he walked off. I slowly got out of bed and walked towards the door. Before I opened it, I checked around to make sure I still had my weapons. Sonas, **(I changed the name of his sword. You'll see why later or in my other books eventually too)** check. Ring, check. That's about it so it's time to go. I stepped outside the infirmary, expecting to see a modern version of ancient Rome, but it looked more like an ancient version of modern Rome **(we should all know what it looks like, no need for explanations)**. I was just walking around, looking for someone to tell me where the principia was, or even what it was. When I saw my father standing in the doorway of a building. He waved me over, and went inside. I was wondering why he was risking coming here. He made it very clear that he was not liked. But I trusted him, why would I not. I opened the door, and was disgusted by what I saw. The room smelled of garbage and stale rat carcass. But the worst part of it, was what it looked like on the inside.

 ** _An. So this is really just a dialogue chapter, with a bit of Percy's past. If you're confused about why I renamed Percy's sword, just wait. A. It's better than what i had it as before. and B. It'll pay off really good in pretty much all of my books. As a liitle hint: It's linked to three different groups. 1. Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. 2. Ouranos, Pontus, and Tartarus. And 3. Percy, Jason and/or Thalia, and Nico and/or Bianca and/or Hazel. Basically the big three groups, and the more demigods while doing whatever it is I have chosen, the more powerful it is. Just wait and I can assure you you might not've seen somethimg like this probably. But you'll have to wait for now._**


	5. Training, Training, and, uhhh, Triden?

Percy PoV

The inside was filled with piles of garbage, in the back there was rats eating other rats, and all around was old dried blood. My father noticed my disgust and made a comment.

"Yes, the Romans are not exactly the most appreciative of me."

"No kidding. And this is all because of one emperor thousands of years ago?"

"Unfortunately, yes. But I didn't call you in here to talk to you about. Percy, you are the only son I've had. I came here to tell you that you have a lot of power. And you need to focus that power and strength in order to train every day. You mustn't tell anyone you are my son, not even the praetors or any friends you might meet here. You are the prophecy child, as you are the eldest child of the big three. However that can change. You have two cousins here, a son of Zeus and a daughter of Hades. If they find out you are the child of the great prophecy, they might become jealous." I just nodded as he went on. I knew that they would probably be a bit jealous, but I didn't think they'd try to kill me. "Percy. I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this at such a young age, but it will only make you stronger." I nodded again and he sighed. He moved closer to me and wrapped me in a hug. When he pulled away he looked into my eyes. "I know I'm putting a lot of pressure on you. But I know you'll do well. Do me proud son." With that he flashed out. Not able to bear the smell any longer, I walked out and made my way to the senate house. As I opened the doors, I noticed there was a lot of people arguing. Three people were on one side trying to get everyone to calm down. The first one looked like a priest from a video game. He wore a long, flowing toga. It was golden yellow and had multiple different symbols weaved into it. He was about 5,9" with golden curly hair, and looked about 17. He had Yellow eyes that seemed to radiate years of experience and power, however he didn't look like a fighter. Next to him was a girl about 18-ish. She had medium cut, dark brown hair, with light purple eyes. She looked around 6 foot, and was wearing a pure white toga, with a purple cape strapped onto it. She wore imperial gold armour, but it looked unique. It had many etchings of war, and large victories. Her helmet had a golden laurel wrapped around it, and she looked like she's won more battles than the gods. Finally, was a guy who was 6,2", with midnight blue eyes, and buzz cut, dirty blonde hair. He wore the same outfit as the girl, but his armour was different. His was gold, but where there was etchings of victories on the girls armour, there were etchings of weapons, and bloodshed. He didn't have a laurel on his helm, however he did have a spiked crown almost, that came up from the top. It looked like a golden Sauron, but the spikes were thicker and shorter(Like the warden ornament from For Honour). When they saw me open the door, the entire senate went quiet. The first person to break the silence was the guy in the yellow toga.

"Uh, hey kid. You doing ok?" I was wondering why they were all looking at me.

"Yeah. Markus told me I should come here to see the praetors." I was worried I interrupted something important, but I'm sure my dad would've told me if I was about to embarrass myself or not. Finally the girl spoke.

"Um, hello. My name is Amanda. I'm one of the praetors here. I'm assuming Lupa told you about all of this."

"Yeah. She explained how the whole system works here." This time the buff guy spoke.

"What's your name kid?"

"Percy." I replied.

"Nice to meet you Percy. I'm Justin. I'm also certainly shocked that you are here, but can you tell us if you remember anything about getting here. I told them about my fight with the hydra, making sure to leave out the parts with the water, and just said I used the candle the whole time. Immediately, uproars began from the others.

"That is impossible!"

"No child could defeat the hydra by himself!"

"He is a liar. He could be sent by an enemy as a danger!"

"We mustn't let him stay here and join the legion!" The girl in the purple cape slammed the hilt of her dagger into a piece of metal in her desk.

"SILENCE!" She roared. "The child is no threat to us. And if you see a nine year old boy as a threat, I think we should find other legionaries willing to take the duty of a centurion seriously. Now. There is no way of telling whether the boy is lying or not, but there is no evidence that he his. We all know a god cannot interfere with mortal fights, and he shows strength by waking this early. More strength than most of you have." She sat down, and the boy rose from his seat.

"Augur Julius has seen great potential and a successful future with the boy in the legion. And if the boy ever does become a threat we do outnumber him hundreds to one." After that he sat down as well. The guy in the yellow toga turned towards the rest of the council.

"I have seen many visions with my auguries, all of which have shown this boy leading us to great success in the future. I have also seen glimpses of him showing greater power than any legionnaire any of us have seen. I understand you see his power as dangerous, but would you rather have someone who could defeat the hydra at nine years old leading you, or someone who defeated a flock of metal birds?" The others began mumbling with each other, and some of them looked convinced that I could help them, but others looked at me like I threatened to under their children. After a minute of quiet discussion, the praetors rose from their seats.

"Now. I believe that concludes today's senate meeting. Head back to your barracks and inform your housemates of the changes we discussed previously." The boy said. After he finished speaking, the 11 other people, including the guy in the yellow toga, stood up and walked out, some of which I heard whispering when they passed by. The girl Amanda, and the guy Justin walked over to where I was standing.

"Well. I should go deal with our paperwork from earlier. Meet me in the principia when you are done with him." Justin said, gesturing towards me. He walked out leaving me alone with the girl, Amanda.

"Follow me. I will show you to the children house." She began swiftly walking out, and I ran to catch up with her.

"Thank you for making the people stop yelling at me." She smirked, but kept walking.

"No problem. I don't think a boy at your age could be that big of a threat." I didn't know what to say. So I changed the subject.

"Are the other kids nice?" I asked.

"Very nice. And you guys have a almost a year to become friends before you join the legion."

"How many people are there?"

"There's 8 kids there with you. And all of them are 9 like you." We walked for another minute, where I asked questions about the other kids, and what they were like, until we finally reached the house. Amanda opened the doors and I saw 8 kids playing around in the living room, playing with sticks. When we walked in, they stopped playing and ran over to us.

"Amanda! You're back!" I heard one say. He was a boy around my height, with golden hair, and piercing blue eyes. He must be the son of Jupiter. I looked around at the other kids and could tell who a few of them were, just from what they looked like, and from what my father told me. The girl I saw on guard duty was here. I was mad that she left me, but I did survive so I'm not too mad. Beside my cousin was a brown girl with long, curly brown hair. She had golden eyes, but they were darker than regular gold. This was my other cousin, Hazel. Behind her was another girl, with tanned skin, and long, black hair. Her eyes were as black as night, and made me want to cower away. I guessed this was the war demigoddess Reyna. Next, there was a boy with pale-ish skin, and a chubby face. He had cropped black hair, and dark brown eyes. Beside him, was a girl with flowey, dirty blonde hair. She had eyes that seemed to change colours like a remote control light bulb. Then, there was a boy, with medium cut, curly brown hair. He had brownish-red eyes, and was fidgeting his fingers with a clay doll. Finally, was a girl with medium red hair, and tree green eyes. She was quite pale, but looked like she tanned easily. I guessed this was my other cousin, Gwen. Amanda guides them to the living room, where she told them who I am, and about how I got here. The next couple of hours, we started talking and getting to know each other. They were all pretty cool, and had their own stories about getting here. We discussed a lot of other things, like who our parents were, since Piper, Frank, and I were unclaimed. After we were done talking, we each went to bed to get some rest for the next 9 months of training.

 _Line Break_

 _Time skip-5 months_

I was in the children's arena, putting away a training dummy, when Reyna walked in.

"Hey Perce. What'ya doing?"

"Sup Rey. I'm just cleaning up from training." I replied I looked over at her when I was done putting the dummy away. She was wearing her breastplate, and had her sword in her hand. She was also wearing her good luck charm she got from her mother. It was a silver charm bracelet with a royal purple pendant. The pendant was a crossed torch and sword, the symbol of her her mother. We all got cool gifts from our parents on Christmas and this one was hers. Jason, Hazel, Reyna, and I, all got the same thing, although they were a bit different. Jason had a gold charm bracelet with a yellow lightning bolt pendant. Hazel got a silver charm bracelet that had a black crown pendant. And I got a diamond charm bracelet that had a sea green sword pendant. I guess if my dad couldn't show any signs of his domain, he could still make me look cool. Leo got a screwdriver from his dad, that could unlock any door. Alyssa got a hairbrush that could change anyone's hairstyle to how she wanted it. Piper has a more theatrical present. Her mother, Aphrodite, showed up, and personally claimed her, and apologized for not doing it sooner. She also got a dream catcher with a kaleidoscope eye in the centre. Frank got his mom's dog tags from when she fought in the military. Apparently she passed away, and was raised by his grandma since he was a child. Lastly, Gwen got a strawberry that couldn't age or be squished, and had infinite seeds that instantly growed when she tried. Hers had the best fight advantage, but she needed to be on grass when using it. I thought it was weird that she was wearing her good luck charm, because she only wore it when she fought.

"That's perfect. I came here to fight you."

"What? But we're friends."

"And were also the two best fighters out of the rest. I want to fight somebody that will challenge me."

"O-okay. Let me get refreshed first." I walked over to the water cooler and poured two cups of water. I drank the first one, and poured the second on me. I know it's cheating, but I was too tired after 2 hours of training. I walked back to Reyna and asked if she was ready.

"I'm always ready for a fight." She got into her battle stance and I went into mine. She unsheathed her sword and I pulled out my pen. I lost my ring after I fought a pack of hellhounds a little bit ago, and turns out when I drop it, it doesn't come back to me. Luckily Sonas does though, or I'd be screwed. I uncapped it and it grew into a special gladius. The blade was the same as one, but the hilt had more of a greek design. "That is still the coolest thing ever." Ever since I showed Reyna my sword and told her about my ring, she's been obsessed with magical items. She said she was going to ask her mom for a sword that turns into something cool, but she'd have to wait till her birthday. I don't know why, but I feel like our bracelets are more than just good luck charms. Why else would we all get one that are specialized. I didn't get too much time to think about it, because she rushed at me immediately. She swung her sword at my head, but I ducked and rolled backwards. I got up and she was already jabbing at my stomach, so I side stepped and swung at her left side. She twirled and hit my sword from the bottom, sending it straight up. She kicked my stomach and I stumbled back. I recovered and went for the attack this time. I feinted a swing at her foot, and kicked her other leg out when she raised it. She went to the ground and I held my sword up to her throat. I could tell she was looking for a way out, but sighed and I took my sword away. I reached my arm out and helped her up.

"You should've blocked with your sword. You raised your leg when you shouldn't have."

"Thanks tips. I already forgot what happened."

"You're the one who wanted to fight."

"Yeah, but I didn't ask for your help." She was trying to sound mad, but her smiling gave it away.

"Anyways. Shouldn't we get back for dinner?"

"Oh Yeah! I knew I forgot something." We put away our stuff and ran to the house. When we walked inside I immediately smelled cookies and pasta. In the dining room, our friends were scarfing down pasta, while Amanda and Justin watched them. Amanda was holding a plate of cookies, and Justin was holding 2 plates of pasta.

"I'm about to eat their food if they do not get here soon!"

"We're here! Training took longer than expected." I said.

"Reyna. I told you to bring him, not fight him!"

"If it makes you feel better Amanda, I beat her." She sighed and shook her head while Justin high fived me.

"That's my boy. Never lose to anyone!" Over the last while, Amanda and Justin have become our personal trainers and almost like our older siblings. Justin trained me, Piper, Frank, and Leo. He went a while before being claimed, so he said he decided to take us under his wing. He trained Leo as well because he wasn't claimed until a couple weeks before I got here. Amanda trained Reyna, Jason, Gwen, Alyssa, and Hazel. She decided to just take the ones Justin didn't, but she still cares about all of us. I ended up visiting the medic, Markus , and he explained to me how he got claimed. He was in the middle of a war games, and was winning. He was in the fourth cohort, since he could fight, and was paired with third and fifth. One of his friends got hit with a water cannon, and swallowed s bunch in his lungs. Markus began giving cpr and said he could almost see what was wrong. As he gave cpr, he ended up glowing gold, and an arrow shooting into the sun appeared over him. His friend started coughing and spit up a mouthful of water. He ended up being the only healer out of the Apollo kids, so he was promoted almost immediately. He was moved up to second cohort, although he spends most of his time in the infirmary. When he heard I lost my bow, he gave me his old one his dad gave him, and began training me with it. Justin was fine with it, because he wasn't the best with a bow, and they were good friends from all of the times Markus took care of him. Even though Justin was my trainer, Amanda trained me with getting claimed. She said that war gods loved when their kids showed how powerful they were, and that's the easiest way to get claimed by them. All I did was fight monsters like drakons, gargoyles, metal birds, and I even fought the reformed Minotaur and Hydra. I've beaten everyone I've fought, other than Justin, Amanda, and Markus, and have destroyed nearly every training dummy in the camp. Everyone was so confused on why I wasn't being claimed, but it just brought me more training to prove myself to the others. They were even more confused by the fact that I got a Christmas present, but still haven't gotten claimed. We finished eating dinner, and I decided to go to bed. The next 4 months are going to be tough.

 _Line Break_

 _Time Skip-4 months_

I woke up and ran downstairs. I saw Jason and Frank at the table, and Hazel and Gwen in the living room. Reyna, Piper, and Alyssa were probably still getting ready. I saw Amanda and Justin cooking pancakes in kitchen and ran towards the table.

"Morning Perce."

"Hey Jace. Can you believe we're getting into the legion today!?"

"I know right. I don't even care that I'm going into fourth or fifth." Hazel and Gwen walked into the dining room.

"If it makes you feel better, I'll be right there with you."

"No you won't Gwen. You too Frank. I told you you guys can fight. You're for sure going to third or second."

"Hazel, you don't have to make us feel better. I don't care what cohort I'm in. As long as I can fight in the legion I'm okay."

"Me too. Numbers don't tell us where we belong. Plus, we could always just take the trials when we turn 14."

"Fine. Then I promise I'll join whichever one you get put into."

"Hazel, don't do that. You and Jason would be hunted if you decline the first."

"I don't care. I like my friends, not some stupid system."

"Jason, not you too."

"Of course me too. I promise we'll join whatever cohort our friends are in." Amanda and Justin walked in to bring us food, just as the others came down.

"Guys, it's very brave of you to do that, but trust me when I say not to defy the first. I know you want to be with each other, but you can still talk when you want."

"Justin is right. And Percy, we must talk with you alone." We were all confused, but I followed them to the basement. They sat down on the couch and I sat on the chair.

"Why are we in the basement?"

"Because I'm not sure if you want the others to hear. Percy...we know about your father." Amanda said.

"What! You know who he is." I tried to sound like I had no idea what they were talking about. I don't think I did that well

"Don't play dumb bro. He talked to us this morning."

"Oh. So you guys are gonna banish me aren't you."

"No! You're like a little brother to us. No matter your parents. Plus, I don't hate Neptune. Only the Lares and legacies will be upset over this."

"What Justin means to say, is that we will be here for you when you get claimed. Although we don't recommend coming out until after you are placed in the legion."

"So, I should stay in the fourth."

"Relax Percy. Justin and I will personally vouch for you at the ceremony. Hopefully you will make it to second, if not, third is where you'll be place for sure."

"Thank you guys. But what should I tell the others?"

"The truth. You guys are much closer than anyone I've seen. Jason and Hazel will be thrilled to have you as their cousin."

"But will I ever be able to make Praetor?"

"That I cannot answer. Although you will have us two, Markus, Augur Julius, your cousins, and any cohort under you standing with you. Even legacies in the fourth and fifth will want you in the cape as a symbol for change."

"But the entire first and second will vote for Jason."

"I wouldn't be so sure. That's all we can talk about for now. I suggest telling them now." We walked back upstairs and they walked towards the table. Justin began speaking.

"We must go to the principia. But Perseus has some news for you." They walked out the door and nodded at me. After the door closed I turned around.

"What were they talking about Percy?" Reyna asked.

"They found out who my dad was this morning."

"Who is it!?" They all screamed.

"Before I tell you, promise me you won't get mad."

"What do you mean. Why would we be mad."

"You'll find out in a second. I've known this since I was a baby, but I wanted to keep it secret until I got a few friends."

"Wait. So you've known who you're parent is? Then why all of the training to get claimed?"

"It was training. Why would I say no to becoming stronger and respected."

"Wait. Is you dad-."

"Wait. I want to say. My dad...he's Neptune." They were silent for a couple of seconds before Jason spoke up.

"Dude. That's sick!" Hazel exclaimed

"What?"

"Yeah dude. We've always been the three musketeers, now were the three children of the big three too!" She continued

"Come on man. You got us all upset for that!" Leo joked.

"So you guys aren't mad?" Reyna came up and hugged me.

"Of course not. None of us are scared of water. Well maybe Leo." Frank said as he and Piper came up and high fived me as well.

"Alright dude. Now all that's left is me."

"I'm sure it'll be soon Frank."

"Thanks Pipes." Gwen came up and hugged me too.

"I'm glad that we can be cousins Perce."

"Me too Jace."

"Are you gonna tell the legion?" Gwen asked.

"Justin and Amanda said not to, and that they and Markus and Julius would help me out when I do. Just so I don't get murdered like Cesar."

"That makes sense. But we'll help you too. No matter what happens to any of us, we'll help each other."

"Okay calm down with the my little pony stuff Alyssa."

"Oh shut up Leo!"

"Guys! We're gonna be late." Reyna pointed at a clock, and we only had 20 minutes to change into our armour and rush to the other side of camp. We ran to our rooms and began throwing on our stuff. I put on my imperial gold armour, and threw my bow on my back. Since it was from Apollo, it was enchanted to have the arrows appear when you pull back the string. I put on my good luck charm, and kept Sonas in pen form. I kept a dagger in my sheath, and put on the necklace I got for my birthday. It was was a diamond chain, with an ocean blue wave pendant on it, and the pendant on my bracelet also changed into an ocean blue trident. I had to lie and say my mother owned a business called Trident seafood when she was still alive, so the Lares and my friends wouldn't catch on. I'm sure the others know that's a lie now, but I'm not planning on telling anyone for a while. I came out and saw everyone waiting for me. They were all wearing imperial gold armour, and all had a gold sword in a sheath. Each of them had their good luck charm on them, and some had a second weapon to look flashy. Frank had a bow and waist quiver, Hazel had a spatha, Jason had a spear and a shield in his back, and Piper had a dagger. Reyna went all out and had a spear, a second sword, and a hunting knife sheathed on her hip. I couldn't be outdone, so I grabbed the hunting knife I hid in the closet and strapped it in my hip. I moved my dagger to my right side, and grabbed the sword I hid behind the fridge. I put that in my sheath and walked back out. Then I grabbed my shield from the bottom of the kitchen table and strapped that to my back. The others looked jealous and confused, but we left anyways. We got to the arena, and walked to where we were instructed at rehearsal. All we had to do was walk up, have anyone that wanted to say a few words, then chose our cohort. They started the ceremony, and Alyssa was called up first. She had Dakota, a fifth centurion, and her sister from third speak for her. Once that was done, fifth and fourth agreed to take her. She looked upset, but chose fourth. We clapped as she walked to her new cohort. Next up was Leo. He had his brother from first speak for him, and fourth and fifth raised their hands. He chose second as we cheered. Next, Gwen was called up. She didn't have anyone speak for her, and joined the fifth. I felt bad for her, but she said she wanted to go there. We clapped and she smiled at us. We didn't much time to celebrate, because Frank was called up. He also said he didn't want anyone to speak for him, and fourth and fifth raised their hands. He chose fifth and joined Gwen. Alyssa and Leo looked understanding, and also clapped. They called Pipers name and she walked up. She had Justin speak for her, and second and under raised their hands. She joined second and walked over. Now it was Hazels turn. She walked up and Augur Julius spoke for her. All cohorts except for first raised their hands. She looked conflicted and glanced towards Justin and Amanda. They sadly nodded at her and she chose second. Next it was Jason's turn. He had Amanda speak for him, and all five shot up. He didn't even glance at anyone and chose first. Justin called Reynas name and she walked out of the hiding place we were in. She gave me a hug and walked out into the arena. Amanda and Justin both spoke for her. After they were done, all five hands shot up. She took a while to decide, but ended up choosing first. That meant it was my turn. Since we weren't in the open, I never noticed how many people there were. Every legionnaire was chilling in the stands, while the centurions were standing on one side. My friends stood behind their respective ones, and the Praetors sat in their special seats. I got to the stage, and I said I had some people coming to speak for me. Amanda and Justin came up and explained all of my feats in training and fighting. After they were done, Markus came up. He explained how even though I ended up in the infirmary a couple times, I'd try to rush back out and finish the fight. Iris messages appeared over us and showed everything they were talking about. Next, Augur Julius came up and explained how I was one of the best fighters he's ever seen. He spoke about how he saw great success in my future, and how I'd become a very important figure in this camp. Despite all of the people and things I had going for me, only third and down raised their hands after the discussion period. I looked sadly at my friends in fourth and fifth, and chose third. It sucked that I was going to be the only one not in a pair, and the only unclaimed in third. I knew I was going to be pushed around a lot, so I had to be strong. After he walked over to the third, Amanda stood up. All of us walked towards her and she told the kids to go to the temple of Apollo for our Auguries. She told the centurions that they should take their cohorts and go for training. After he finished we took off in search of the Apollo temple. As soon as we left the arena, the others began celebrating.

"I can't believe we're finally in the legion! Jason, you and I are gonna rock the first!"

"And we have all of us in a different cohort! We could run the entire camp."

"You're right Hazel. If we all become centurions, we can do whatever we want." Piper responded.

"I don't know. I think I'm gonna go for praetor."

"Haha Leo. I'll beat you before you even run."

"Come on Jace. We all know you'll have no idea what to do as praetor." As they were arguing, I felt a voice in my head. I couldn't tell who it was, all I heard was mumbling.

"So Frank, why'd you chose fifth?"

"Percy." The voice became clearer.

"I didn't want to leave Gwen alone."

"Shrine" Now it was starting to hurt. What did it mean by shrine.

"You didn't have to do that you know."

"Father." The voice said. I began slowing down, and trailing behind them.

"Hey, You okay Perce?" Jason asked. Now I was clutching my head from the pain.

"Go-or fa-rine." I collapsed on my knees.

"Percy?" They rushed over and tried to help me up.

"Go to-er shr-." The voice began screaming at me. I was in so much pain and I have no idea why.

"Percy! What wrong dude!?"

"Get up man. We need to get you to the infirmary." I didn't know who was talking, but i was hunched over now because of the pain. The voice began booming inside of my head now.

"GO TO YOUR FATHER'S SHRINE!" As soon as he finished screaming the pain stopped. I shot up, huffing just to catch my breath. My friends stood a couple feet back, and I stood back up.

"Dude are you okay?" I turned towards Jason and responded.

"Yeah. You guys go to the augur. I have to do something first."

"What could be more important than getting into the legion?"

"I don't know Hazel, but I'll explain when I'm done."

"What do you want us to tell Julius?" Gwen asked.

"Say a voice told me I had to do something. He'll probably know what that means."

"Are you seriously okay though? We could wait back for you."

"That's okay Pipes. I'll only be a minute." They looked reluctant but started walking to the temple. I gave them one last nod and walked towards my dads shrine. I looked back one more time and saw Reyna hugging Jason. I started feeling more pain when I saw that, but it was different. It didn't hurt, and wasn't in my head, it was in my stomach. I ignored it and turned the corner. I began wondering who the voice belonged to. It wouldn't be an Olympian, they wouldn't want to meet in my dad's shrine. It wasn't any other children of Zeus or any of his grandchildren, they'd meet me in his shrine. It wasn't Hades, he wouldn't want to visit me. It couldn't be a titan, they wouldn't be able to sneak into camp. It wasn't a primordial, they faded a long time ago. I had no idea who it could be. I kept reviewing every deity that would want to see me for any reason, and could list 200 reasons why it wasn't them. I finally reached the wooden shack, and was extremely confused on who was there. He was about 6 foot and had ocean blue eyes, with blonde surfer hair. He was wearing a sea green toga, and had had a seashell hanging from a string on his neck. I dreaded I would ever meet this person, and it had to be today. Of course my day would be ruined by my brother Triden.

 _Line Break_

"Come on! We only have a couple minutes of walking until we reach the place."

"What exactly is this place?"

"I'm not sure. All my mom said was it's a safe place for demigods."

"Alright. But if we get killed...I'm gonna make sure you get sent to the fields of punishment."

"Calm down man. When I ever been wrong?"

"You're kidding me right. We're only ten and I think we've fought more monsters than some gods."

"Such a drama queen."

"Oh shut up Thal."

"What are you gonna do Nico?"

"Just shut up and let's get to this stupid place."

"It's not stupid. I'm sure you'll love it. It's a casino for kids."

"Is that even legal? What's it called anyways."

"I think she said Lotus Casino."

"That's weird."

"Just come on."

 _Line Break_

"Percy, I'm sure you recognize me."

"Yeah. You're my brother Triden."

"That's right. But do you know why I'm here?"

"I don't know. My dad never had kids in his Roman form, so I'm not sure if you hate them too."

"I would if it was anyone else, but I am not here to harm you."

"Then why are you here."

"To train you. Our father can't train you directly, and you can't exactly get Lupa or someone here to train you."

"But I just joined the legion. How can I train with you and be here?"

"We won't be leaving or staying anywhere. Every morning you will wake up at 6, come here where I will take you to Atlantis. I will send you back for 8, and you will spend the rest of the day training."

"Wait. Why was my head killing me when you tried to talk to me?"

"Father has locked most of your powers so they wouldn't accidentally come out. I had to unlock them in order to get through to you, however I was not aware of the power he gave you."

"What do you mean?"

"It seems that father has given you an immense amount of power. You don't just have basic hydrokinesis, you have powers that father rarely uses."

"What are they?"

"You will find out soon enough, we have two years of training ahead of us. After that you will reveal your true identity."

"I'll only be twelve though! I need to move up in the cohort placings when I'm 14!"

"That is not true. That is the recommended age, but anyone can take the trials. Plus, you'll have a mastery over your sword and powers by the time that happens."

"What do you mean my sword?"

"Drop the other weapons. You can keep them in case you need them, but you need to focus on your sword. You must master how to use it before you come out, and there is a specific date for that."

"Now I have even more questions."

"Well hold your tongue. You must be going to the auguries."

"Wait. Why aren't you killing me?"

"Because I also care about fathers name being brought proper justice." I didn't even get to say thanks before he flashed out of the shrine. I walked outside, not able to bear the smell any more, and walked towards the temple. When I got there I saw my friends sitting in chairs. Augur Julius noticed me and ran towards me.

"Perseus! We must start the auguries quickly. We do not have much time." We ran towards the altar and he picked up a stuffed animal. My friends saw me, but stayed in their chairs. Each of them clutched their arms in pain. An iris message appeared for the legionaries so they could witness the auguries. He picked up a knife and drove it into the animals stomach. He pulled the knife upwards, ripping the toy in half as a bright light beamed down upon him. He began muttering Latin and turned towards me. He picked up a brand and lifted it towards the sky. A bolt of lightning struck it and he placed it on my arm. He held it there for at least minute, me clenching all of my muscles the whole time, so I didn't move. I clenched my eyes until he moved the brand away. I looked down and was amazed. There was a large SPQR underneath the symbol of unclaimed campers. There was one line underneath the banner, symbolizing my first year of service. Julius walked back to me and said something.

"Welcome to the legion Perseus." I smiled and walked to my friends who were standing up now. The iris message closed, so they brought up what happened earlier.

"Dude, what happened earlier?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. What happened to your head?" Alyssa continued. I was about to tell them when I heard Triden speaking in my head.

"You mustn't tell them. They will become jealous and expose you." I wanted to argue, but I knew I'd end up losing that fight. I guess I had to lie again.

"Nothing. I just got a bad headache. I went to see Markus."

"You're lying."

"No I'm not Piper."

"Yes you are! Tell us what happened!" After she said that, I wanted to explain everything. I felt the urge to say everything that's happened since my birth. I had a feeling Piper had charmspeak, but not this powerful. I tried my best to keep my mouth shut until someone else talked.

"Dude, you can tell us what happened." The charmspeak finally wore off and I could talk.

"Nothing happened I swear. I just got sick from the ceremony." They didn't look sure, but gave up and resumed their previous conversation.

"We should probably get to our barracks. At least we have today off." Jason said.

"We all agreed and split off into different groups. Jason and Reyna walked up the path that lead straight to the first cohorts barracks and arena. Hazel and Piper walked behind the building and made their way to their barracks. Frank and Gwen started on their way to the left edge of camp where fifth was placed, and Leo and Alyssa started walking right to the fourths barracks. I sighed and walked to the centre of New Rome where third had their barracks and arena. They had a cohort on each side, and one in the middle in case an army of monsters invaded us. I neared my new house and saw most of the cohort hanging outside. Some were in the arena training, and a couple of kids were sleeping. A lot of the kids stared at me as I walked by, and I had a feeling they didn't like me. I walked inside and was greeted by my centurions. The guy was about 5,8", with sandy blonde hair. It was neatly trimmed and he had full sky blue eyes.

"Hey Percy. Any bed without a name tag is free game. Enjoy your day off' and don't bother me while I'm sleeping." I was about to retort when the head centurion slapped him in the stomach. She was about 5,5" with beach curled brunette hair. She bore baby blue eyes, that had a mischievous glint to them. They had similar builds, and both looked around 16 or 17.

"James! You should be nicer. I apologize for his rude behaviour. My names Kiara. We're children of Mercury."

"Don't they usually go to second?" James laughed, but he didn't look amused.

"That's just the fighters. The ones with speed go to first, and the thieves and non fighters go here." He explained.

"Who else is in here?" I asked. I wanted to know who I was dealing with before I started trouble.

"Mostly Mercury and Venus. There's some Vulcan and a couple of Bacchus. There's also a couple Trivia and a few Apollo. Oh, and there's a few Nemesis kids too." James answered.

"You forgot about Liam." Kiara reminded.

"Oh yeah. There's a son of Fortuna in here too."

"Thanks. Do I get a schedule of when we train or…" They looked at me dumbfounded.

"It's the Legion. Our schedule is train until we eat, sleep, or are under attack." Kiara answered.

"Oh. So it's just like a free for all training thing in the arena."

"Pretty much. We just pick partners, fight, and then take breaks when it's time to go."

"What time do we wake up?" I asked her.

"Anytime between 6am and 12pm. But we usually get up at 9." I was about to ask more, but James interrupted me.

"Listen Percy. Just wait a week following us. If you have any questions after that, we'll answer then."

"Alright. Can you give me the rest of the day off. The praetors, Augur, and Markus said they needed my help today." They don't really need my help, but I thought I'd tell them about Triden and stuff in case they worry about me. I'll have to make sure they don't tell the others though.

"Sure thing kid. Just be sure to be here by the morning."

"Thanks. See you later I guess."

"We better. 11 o'clock curfew doesn't break until you turn 14." Kiara warned. Not wanting to upset them and get stuck with stable duty for the next year and a half, I turned around and walked out the barracks. I made my way to the principia to tell the praetors about my training situation with Triden. I know he said not to tell anyone, but I figured at least someone should know in case people try finding me. As I walked up to the doors,I opened them and saw Amanda and Jason doing a lot of paperwork.

"I especially don't want to be praetor if this is what you do all day."

"At least you're considering it." Justin commented.

"Did you come here just to tell us you don't want to be praetor?" Amanda asked.

"No. I came to tell you something. SInce I can't exactly practice my water powers here, my brother Triden is going to train me in Atlantis or the next few years."

"You can't just leave camp. That will raise more questions." She said.

"I know. That's why he's only training me in the mornings. I was telling you in case someone goes looking for me."

"Alright. Thanks for telling us." Justin said. I said goodbye and walked back to the barracks. I heard them mutter a few things to each other, including Justin saying there's nothing they can do about it since it's a god's demands. I sighed when I got out of the building, this is going to be a long 2 years.

 _Line Break_

The next morning I woke up at 6 like I was told, and met my brother in the shrine. He noticed me, and without saying anything, put his hand on my shoulder and flashed us to Atlantis. I nearly fainted from the feeling it sent through my body, but luckily I held on.

"Good. You didn't faint."

"Thanks for the warning." I said sarcastically.

"You survived." He replied. " Now let's get started. I already saw your fight with the hydra, you did good with the water. But we're here to make sure you can absolutely master these abilities, and in the future, you'll learn more abilities."

"This sounds like a video game. Do I need to complete quests to get ability points."

"That's actually exactly how it works. You think advanced technology and video games were invented by mortals?" I never thought of it before, but I guess it does make sense. "Anyways. When you willed the water in the fight, you didn't do it properly."

"What do you mean? I willed it fine."

"You did. But you didn't do it properly." He gestured to a small pool of water in a fountain at the end of the arena. "Focus on that water, and try to bring some towards you." I looked over at the water and tried to do the same thing I did my first day at camp. I tried for a couple minutes, but only managed to create some ripples in the water.

"Why can't I control it?" I asked.

"Because you don't know how. The only reason you've been able to control the water when you have, is because of some of the power dad gave you. You were able to manipulate it in battles and fights because the sea loves a good storm, and supposedly can't be tamed. If you get in a fight yes, you'll be able to do some stuff with the water, but you won't be able to control it. You need to learn you to make the water a part of your brain, like you can feel each different atom of the water in order to summon or move it." He spent the next hour and a half teaching me how to meditate and control the water while in almost a trance. As the lesson went on he taught me how to speed up the process until I almost didn't need the meditation anymore. Then, after a quick break, he began making me do it while I fought a merman kings guard. Near the end of the lesson I was able to focus on the water while having basic swordplay, and when focusing completely I was able to shape the water into small objects.

"How did I do today?" I asked Triden.

"You did well. But don't worry, we still have 2 more years of this." He smiled as he stood in front of me.

"What kind of powers will I unlock over time?" He looked reluctant to respond, but eventually did.

"I can't tell you everything yet, or else you will try to do those even though you are not ready. What I can tell you is you will eventually be able to completely bend the water and large amounts of it to your will, and change the temperature of water and some things containing water. You will be able to suck the water out of things or restore the water into things. When we near the end of our training you will learn to summon water from thin air by mixing the particles, and you will be able to turn many things containing water into a puddle. Lastly, you will learn to sense bodies of water, and sense organisms that contain water, and how this can help you when you go on hunts or feel you are being hunted. And after we are done our training you will learn more things to do with your more advanced powers on quests and missions." I was amazed at how much power my dad gave me, but I feel like it wasn't entirely his fault as it's the first time he's had a demigod son. Triden noticed my face and decided it was best to let me go home now.

"Wait! Will I learn how to do that telepathy thing?"

"No. Only a god can do that. I just had to unlock your powers so you could accept other gods powers." I just replied with a quick

"Oh."

"However there is one more thing I must tell you. I gave you my blessing, as well as my mother. Over time you will also learn how to speak with almost every marine animal, as well as horses, pegasi, and other aquatic-esqe animals. You will also be able to summon them like aquaman, as long as there is a body of water near you. And when you become older, you will have three trials in taming the deadliest sea creatures, namely the leviathan, the kraken, and the megalodon, in order to create your own creature. But that won't be for a while." I just stood there stunned for what seemed like an hour. Not only do I get to have almost every power that has to do with water imaginable, but I also have to tame the three scariest and deadliest sea creatures, maybe the three deadliest creatures to ever exist. And then after that I get to create my own sea creature that I'll be able to call to aid me in battle. I didn't know what to think, as Triden put a hand on my shoulder, and the familiar smell of the Neptune shrine filled my nose. I stood there for a minute, before deciding it would be best to return back to my barracks. I got back and noticed almost everyone was up, including my two centurions. They noticed I was already in my armour and weapons, but said nothing as we made our way to the arena. When we got there everyone got into their groups they'd already had formed, but me being new, obviously didn't have a group. James And Kiara leaked up to me, and asked if I wanted to join them in sparring today. I accepted and we walked over to an empty space. They wanted to do me and James vs Kiara, but I convinced them to do me vs the two of them because it would help me train more blah blah blah. They went to one side, and I went to another as they both charged at me. James swing first, aiming at my stomach. I partied his attack, but didn't get time to react as I had to block my head from being stabbed my Kiara. James move closer to me, attempting to slash my ankle, but I stomped on the blade, disarming him. Kiara tried to slash my arm while I was distracted, but I quickly blocked that, and kicked her back. While she was distracting me, James grabbed his sword back and stabbed at my back. I jumped forward, but ended up right in front of Kiara. She stabbed at my chest with her dagger, at the same time James slashes at my head. Luckily, I was short enough, and had time to sidestep right. Their blades ended up hitting each other's, as they realized how lucky they were. Unfortunately, I was only 10, and wasn't able to keep up the pace and stamina like they were, so I became sloppy. I tried to go on offensive, but was too tired and sluggish I was disarmed immediately. After the fight I went to go get some water to cool down. I went back to my barracks early to get some sleep, as I wasn't that hungry. I drifted off into a peaceful dream with my last conscious thought being 'Dam, this is gonna be a long two years.'


	6. Quality Time

**Percy PoV**

 _Two years later_

It's been two years since I started my training as a legionnaire and the first demigod of Neptune. Over the course of the training I listened to Tridens advice, and focused more on my sword training than with my other weapons. I still learned how to shoot a how with Markus, but over time the lessons became less frequent. I went to Atlantis every morning to train with my brother and the kingsguard, and I have mastered everything Triden told me I would learn when I first started. Unfortunately I haven't been on any quests, so I only have the basic and some advanced powers over water, but over the next 4 years I'll have plenty of time to learn more things. One thing I did learn that wasn't on the outline was creating small tremors. It happened when I we were training at Camp Jupiter. California is prone to small earthquakes, so I learned how to control them over my training, in order to not lose balance, and to not panic during one. I still had a couple days a month where I would train with another weapon, in order to make sure I can still fight if my sword is taken from me, although I also learned how to make weapons out of ice, by summoning or creating water and freezing it. They only last for a couple of hits, but when they are still intact, they are just a sharp as a real sword. As time went on I saw my friends a lot less, but still saw them every once in a while. Reyna and I still had a rivalry, but I could tell Jason had replaced me in that department. War games were fun, and Piper and I were usually in the same area since 2nd and 3rd were paired together a lot. I would see Hazel sometimes, but she was usually closer to the middle, whereas Piper and I were at the front more. Everyone has been amazed at how I've still seemed to improve my fighting, and I've been able to go toe-to-toe with my centurions a couple times now. The praetors were still kinda mentoring me, but it was more for helping me with leadership skills, and how to reveal I'm the Son of Neptune. My father still checked up on me every once and a while and decided to claim me in tonight's war games. He said I'll have to make sure I grab everyone's attention before I do so, and I know just how I'm going to do it. Until then, I'm just gonna use the rest of my day to hang out with my friends before we fight each other tonight. The pairings are 3rd, and 2nd vs 1st, 4th, and 5th. Although the first kinda despised the 5th and 4th, the praetors make sure they all play nice, and since 3rd and 2nd have so many people, it would almost be unfair to put one with 2 other teams. I decided to go see Piper and Hazel so we could discuss tonight's battle plans. I made my way through the city, and eventually made it to the 2nd cohorts training arena. I opened the doors and was surprised to see only Piper inside, sitting on a bench.

"Hey Pipes. Where's everyone else?" I asked. She looked up and seemed happy to see she had some company.

"They're all at lunch right now. I ate earlier so I decided to get some early practice." I sat down next to her and she turned her head towards the ground.

"Ohhh. But...why are you sitting on a bench if you're supposed to be practicing?" She laughed and looked back at me.

"I was taking a break. Not all of us are as energetic as you." She playfully bumped shoulders with me.

"That's just cause I drink a lot of water for energy."

"And what am I supposed to do then?"

"I don't know. Kiss someone." I joked. She giggled and turned away again.

"Well I am feeling refreshed now. Would you care for a spar?" She stood up and reached her hand out. I took it and stood up.

"I should ask if you're ready to lose."

"Obviously. I don't think Jason, Reyna, Hazel, and I together could beat you. I just want to hit you a couple times." I smiled.

"Rude. And I don't know. If powers were involved, you could probably charmspeak me to jump off a bridge."

"I would never do that. Reyna would be furious if I killed her boyfriend."

"Ha. Ha. Fortunately for you, she and I haven't talked that much in a while."

"Really? You two used to be best friends."

"Jason kinda took that role when he and her moved into the same cohort."

"Damn. That sucks Perce. But hey, after tomorrow you'll be in the same cohort as them, and I'm sure if you talked to Jason he would understand. After all, you were both one of the three musketeers."

"Honestly. I like Reyna, but I'm upset we don't get to hang out as much." I figured since she is the daughter of Venus, she'd figure it out anyways. It looked like she was a bit upset, but continued talking.

"Speaking of fighting. Are we gonna sit here and gossip all day, or are we gonna duel?"

"Hey! You started the gossip."

"Whatever. Now let's go!" She pulled her dagger from her sheath, and got into her battle stance. Making sure I was doing my best to impress I threw my pen up in the air as I uncapped it, and caught it as it came back down as a sword. "Impressive. Too bad showboating won't help you beat the trials." After she finished talking. She rushed at me. She kept her dagger behind her as she ran (like a one armed Naruto) so I couldn't tell where she would swing. When she got close enough, she jumped in the air and did a twirl as she sung at my right side. I block the attack, but she quickly jabbed at my left. I side-stepped to the right and tried to kick her leg, but she did a pivot and dodged it. I swung at her head but she ducked and tried to step closer. Before she could stab me, I grabbed her wrist. I was about to put my sword to her neck when she grabbed my wrist. I could've easily overpowered her, but I didn't want to have to hurt my friend by kicking her or sending her flying. She looked me in the eyes as we struggled and we both loosened up.

"Draw?" I asked

"Draw." I let go of her wrist as she let go of mine, and we both put our weapons away. "Why'd you give up?" She asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You could've done a million things to get out of the end there. But you didn't. Why?"

"Because I didn't want to hurt my beauty queen." I said. I don't know why, but it felt nice to say that.

"Your beauty queen?" She questioned. Though she didn't look mad.

"Yep. My beauty queen. You said I could've beat you, which means you're mine."

"Whatever. We should go though. War games start soon." She was blushing, so I figured it would be best to leave. I made my way back to my barracks and saw most of my fellow cabin-mates getting ready. I went up to my bunk and began getting dressed. I wore a pair of blue shorts, and blue t-shirt as my under armour. I put in the armour that my dad gave me to wear today. It was made from Atlantean diamond, a magical diamond that had a darker blue colour than most diamond, and had etchingings of multiple different sea creatures, like the Trojan sea monster, the Kraken, the Underwater Drakon, etc. on the breastplate. On the helm, there was an etching of a wave starting at the back of my head, and crashed onto my cheeks and where my eyes would be. It had a royal blue plume, and the plume ended like a mermaid tail at the back. The standards (plated skirt part) had etchings of waves starting from the hips, and ending at the spiked bottoms. They also had a sheath on each side, so I could have a sword and dagger on me at the same time. My leg plates and arm guards were pretty much the same as the rest of my stuff, except the diamond was golden so many times when being forged, that they were strong enough to block attacks from another weapon. The armour was also enchanted to make it feel like I'm in water, making it feel completely weightless. Sonas changed from a golden sword, to a diamond sword with a whitish-blue hilt. My ring also turned into a diamond ring. And I wore my other two good luck charms. The inside lining was also blue leather, making it all match with the diamond. I finished changing, and my cabin-mates were staring at me.

"Holy shit Percy! Where did you get that armour?" James asked.

"It was in my trunk this morning. I guess it was a gift from my parent." That was partly true. It was in my trunk this morning, but it was put there by me after my father gave it to me personally.

"Well your armour might win us the game. So many people will be distracted, they won't be able to focus on the battle." Kiara joked. I laughed and we made our way to the battlefield. When we got there, everyone was staring at me armour. Even the praetors were shocked, even considering they have special armour. I guess it makes sense that they do though. Amanda is the daughter of Victoria, and Justin is the son of Virtus. It was pretty cool to have everyone staring at me. But it was also uncomfortable. Luckily Piper calmed my nerves when she walked up to me.

"And you called me beauty queen."

"Hey. I'm trying to convince the entire legion that I'm strong enough to take the trials, I need to dress the part."

"You know, you could've made the parentage a bit less obvious. Most people aren't gonna be surprised after seeing this."

"You mean they won't think I have all of this just because my mom owned a fishing company?" She laughed and we began to walk to our starting positions. As we were walking, I noticed the dreamcatcher Pipers had forever was fastened to the front of her breastplate. "What's with the dreamcatcher?"

"Well, when people stare at it, they get put into a trance almost. So I got it fastened to my armour as an advantage in battle."

"Dam. I didn't know you were that smart."

"I can be more than just beautiful when I want to be you know." As we were talking, I noticed Jason, Reyna, Leo, Frank, Alyssa, and Gwen on the castle wall. They were looking over at us and looked shocked by my armour. I just gave them a wave, and we walked over to Hazel. She was wearing her basic golden armour, but she had a special Stygian iron sword in her sheath. We only got to say a quick hi to her before we were rushed up the field to get in position. All I had to do was wait for the right time, and then I could be claimed in front of the entire camp. I looked at Piper nervously, but she grabbed my hand and gave it a tight squeeze. When she did that, I felt relaxed, like I could do anything, which is good considering what I'm about to to. The conch horn sounded and we quickly let go as we rushed towards the wall. There was a few guards outside the doors that we easily disposed of. I knocked the first one out immediately, and the second was knocked out by Piper. The third one was smart, and ran to attack someone else as we set up the ladder. After we set it up, I ran back out into the fight, as my plan required me staying in the centre of the field. All of my friends, including Piper and Hazel, who got up using a ladder, stood behind water cannons aimed at me. I stuck my sword into the ground as that was our signal, and they each began shooting at me. Before any of the 8 streams could hit me. I stopped them in mid air. I could hear a few gasps and people shouting about it, but I was just getting warmed up. I started forming the water into a ball, as everyone around me stopped fighting. They all stood staring at me as I formed the water into a giant ball, and smashed into the castle doors. The impact created an explosion, similar to a solar flare, as everyone around me began to cower away. The praetors landed on their pegasi and bowed, while ordering everyone else to do so as well. I looked above my head, and saw a sea green trident glowing above my head. I could feel my tattoo begin to change, as it became a trident pointed upwards, with waves coming from either side of it. After the symbol disappeared, Amanda began to speak.

"All hail Perseus Jackson. First son of Neptune, god of the Sea, and King of Atlantis." Slowly, people started to rise, and the praetors called off war games for the night. I heard a lot of mumbling and whispering about me, as I made my way to my friends. I guess they were rushed off of the castle wall, because I didn't see them anywhere. I tried looking for them, but decided to go to bed, thinking they did the same. Nobody in my cohort said a word to me as I undressed and fell into my bed.

 _Line Break_

By the time I woke up the next morning, almost my entire cohort was gone. The only people inside were Natalie, the daughter of Nemesis, and Daniella, a daughter of Venus. They were both good at fighting, but they looked like they were recovering from last night's war games. I figured the others would be in the arena, training already, so I get dressed in my armour. I made my way to the training area, but only saw Austin, a son of Vulcan, and one of the best trainers of the legion. As a trainer, he wasn't in the cohort. He retired a few years ago, and just stuck around to help the other kids. He was sparring with Liam, the only son of Fortuna in camp. He was also a good fighter, but he was sporadic with his wins. They both looked at me, but didn't say a word as they continued to spar. Not wanting to interrupt them, I stepped back outside. I grew close to them during my time here, but they were much older and probably didn't want to hang out with a 12 year old.

"Percy! Where're you goin?" Liam asked. I turned to see they stopped their sparring to face me. "You should come train with us." He suggested.

"Are you sure? You two looked busy."

"It's fine kid. Get over here." Austin gestured for me to come to the arena, and I did. I got to the centre and he began twirling his war hammer. "We saw your magic trick yesterday."

"Oh. Sorry about that, I didn't know they would stop the war games for that."

"Dude. I don't care. We think it's amazing how you were able to do that." Liam replied.

"Really?" I asked. I figured a lot of people would be mad at me. I guess not.

"Yeah really. That's probably the coolest way anyone has been claimed at this camp." Austin said. He looked like he was proud of me.

"Thanks I guess. I spent two years training with my brother for that."

"Wait what?" They looked shocked.

"You'll hear the story eventually. But basically I woke up at 6 every morning, and trained for two hours in Atlantis with my brother Triden, and my dad's kingsguard.

"That explains why you were always in the arena before anyone." Liam realized.

"Anyways. You up for a fight kid?" Austin asked.

"I guess."

"Good. I could use a good fight today. I think Liam's on his luck period right now." They both laughed. I didn't really understand the joke, so I just stood there. "Right. You're 12. Now. Let's fight." We both took a few steps back, and got into our battle stance. He stood lunging on his right leg, his hammer in line with his right as he turned sideways. His hammer was about 3 feet long, with an imperial gold shaft that ended in a point. The head was a large spherical ruby, with imperial gold moulded to it to form the ends. I uncapped Sonas, and got into my stance. I was taller than most kids my age, and was as tall as some of the older kids, so my stance was to make me a smaller target to hit. I stood sideways, my left leg facing Austin. I held my sword at my side, in line with my right leg. I held my left arm out, making a horizontal line with it. He charged first swinging his hammer at my chest. I ducked under the strike and went to smack his foot with my sword. Before I could hit him, he recovered and blocked the hit with the shaft. For a big guy with a big weapon, he could move fast. I decided to let him go on offence, as it meant he had a greater chance of messing up. Once again he rushed, but he stopped before he could reach me. He winters a swing at my left, before jabbing the hammer right into my chest. I stumbled back as he went to strike my right. I jumped back, and immediately dashed forward to attack. I aimed a jab at his left thigh, and he stumbled as he tried to recover in time. I slashed at his right arm as he went to block his left, and he roared in pain as I cut his bicep. He jumped back and I saw a fire in his eyes. He calmed himself before he rushed at me again. This time his attacks were fueled, and fast. He was still attacking wildly, but was recovering before I could for his next attack. He alternated between my left, right, and top as he continued his onslaught. I managed to block all of his attacks, but I began to tire. Eventually my blocks were slowing down, so he caught my straight in the left side as he swung. I went flying a couple feet and landed on the ground. He was about to smack me with an overhead strike, when Liam stopped the hammer with his dagger.

"Yo! Calm down bud." After he said that, Austin closed his eyes for a minute. When he opened them back up, his eyes were back to their original brown. He looked worried that he hurt me.

"Oh my god Perce. I'm so sorry. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. I can't expect to get stronger without getting hit a few times." They both chuckled.

"Anyways. We should get to the mess hall, that's where the others are."

"Why so early?"

"The feast of fortuna is today dude. Don't tell me you forgot!" I felt like such an idiot. I knew there had to be a reason my dad chose yesterday as my claiming day. He wanted me to be able to enjoy a party before I had to take on the trials. We cleaned up the arena as quickly as we could, and made our way to the mess hall.

Line Break

When we reached the mess hall, we noticed a few people were still setting up decorations, for the most part, people sat with other people from their cohorts, but other sat with friends from others. At first I didn't see any of my friends, but eventually I saw Piper, Hazel, Jason, and Reyna hanging out at the back. I was making my way to them, when someone I recognized as a Mercury Legacy stopped in front of me.

"Sea spawn." He said with disgust. He glared at me while I slipped past him not wanting to start anything. I guess not everyone is as accepting as my friends. When my friends noticed me, Piper ran up and gave me a hug.

"You weren't killed yesterday!" She said. My friends chuckled, but Reyna's seemed shorter than the others. I pulled away and sat between her and Jason. I turned to him and we went to fist bump each other.

"Dude. Sweet trick yesterday."

"Thanks. But I wouldn't have been able to do it if you guys didn't shoot water cannons at me."

"You know. That doesn't make us sound the best when you put it like that." Hazel said.

"I don't know. I was kinda hoping he messed up and got hit by one." Reyna stated

"Wow. And I thought we were friends." I said sarcastically.

"We are. That's why I said kinda." We all laughed.

"So what's life been like in the big leagues?" I asked them.

"Pretty boring honestly. Everyone in our cohorts are so uptight. None of them are fun." Jason said. Reyna nodded her head as he spoke, as if to agree with him.

"Same. Some of our friends aren't too bad, but the centurions especially are terrible. They act like it's the original Roman empire, where they can beat us in the streets." Piper said. Hazel just looked at her feet obviously uncomfortable.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, soon enough you guys will be the centurions of your cohorts, and our group of friends will run the whole camp."

"Percy. There's never been a centurion under 15. It's impossible."

"That's what you think. But we're the 5 best fighters this camp has ever seen at our age. I'm sure in 2 or 3 years we could all be powerful enough to become centurions." They were all silent for s minute, before Piper spoke up.

"You know what. I agree with Percy. The whole reason Justin and Amanda trained us, was so we could rule for them when they resign."

"That's true. And they're 19 now. They'll probably be retiring when they turn 21. That gives us until we turn 14 to become the youngest centurions in camp history." Reyna said. She looked very eager to beat a ton of people up and come into a position of power. The other began to agree, and I put my fist in between us above the table.

"Let's make a pact. By the time we turn 14. The five of us will become the centurions of our respective cohorts." The other ms put their hands in the middle and we all looked at each other. We raise our hands in the air, and laughed as we started to enjoy the party. When we pulled our hands away, the other 4 made their way over to us.

"What's with the friendship is magic stuff?" Leo asked.

"We made a pact. We think you four should join." I answered.

"What's the pact?" Alyssa questioned. We filed them in on the details, and everyone except Frank seemed to enjoy the idea.

"I don't know. I have never heard of an unclaimed kid becoming centurion. I don't think they'd let me."

"I'm sure they would, you're one the best fighters in fifth. Plus. I'm sure you'll get claimed soon." I told him.

"I guess. But still. We've got some time before we become centurions."

"Why are we still talking about this? It's time to party!" Alyssa shouted. The rest of us cheered, and began to feast. After I was finished eating, I went over to where Reyna was sitting.

"Are you gonna ignore me for another 2 years? I asked. She looked surprised, but calmed down quickly.

"Perce… listen… I-I'm sorry." She stuttered.

"Relax. I'm kidding. But I have missed our fights."

"So have I. But the first always makes me train with Jason. Our centurions are always saying how we need to rule the camp together when we're older."

"Jeez. That's pretty intense. My centurions don't even know where I am most of the time."

"Ha! I wish. They're so bad, they've pretty much brainwashed Jason."

"Why not spar with me then."

"I'll take you up on that. But I'm warning you, I've been training with the best in camp."

"I think I should be warming you about my training with a god and the 7 best fighters in Atlantis."

"Always the show off."

"You started it!"

"Oh whatever. But I do have some tricks up my sleeve."

"Oh really? Why don't we go test them out?"

"Right now?"

"Why not. It's the feast of Fortuna. Wes both have good luck today. It would be the best fight we'll have for a while."

"Until you take the trials next week."

"Don't remind me. Now, you coming?" I started walking to the coliseum. It was the closest arena to the mess hall, and it would be pretty empty right now. I noticed Reyna racing to catch up.

"Wait up! I don't have my armour."

"I'll wait at the arena. You go get it.

"Actually, I just remembered it's already at the coliseum."

"It is?"

"Kinda. You'll see."

"What does that mean."

"I just said you'll see.

"Whatever. But let's hurry up."

"Oh calm down."

"I'm serious. I don't want the whole camp seeing you get crushed."

"Yeah right. You should be more worried about your reputation."

"Please. Like it could get any lower."

"Only the first and second hate you."

"Oh yeah. Only the best half of the camp. I shouldn't worry about that."

"I don't think they'll stop you from becoming praetor."

"Yeah right. The second we get older they'll raise Jason on the shield."

"But not everyone will. And all you have to do is challenge him to a fight."

"You really want me to become praetor don't you?"

"I think it would be fun to rule with you."

"Wow. Someone's confident they're making it."

"Please. The only people in line right now are me, you, Hazel, Jason, and Piper. If they keep the one of each gender rule, my only you and Jason aren't my competition."

"I guess. But Hazel and Piper are still really good."

"Listen, I'm not denying that. And I know you three have gotten closer, but they're not leaders. There's never been a Venus praetor, and the camp wouldn't choose Pluto over a major war goddess like Bellona."

"I guess. Plus, I don't think they'd mind you being leader."

"Let's hope. I don't want my only friends to be my enemies too."

"Tell me about it. I wonder how the others feel about my parenthood."

"Who cares. When we lead, we can torture everyone who makes fun of you."

"Well lets calm down. We need more than a few people to lead."

"So you're on board now."

"Maybe. I think me and Jason will need to talk about it. But we also have like, 5 years until then."

"Maybe. I don't plan on waiting until I'm 17 to become praetor." By this time, we had began to the doors of the coliseum.

"I guess. But anyways. Go get your armour." We opened the doors, and she walked right to the other side of the arena.

"I already have it on me." She said. I was confused. All she had on was a white pullover, and white jeans. She got into a fighting stance, and pulled her hood over her head. Once the hood had reached her forehead, it had morphed she into a white, silver helmet. It had a white plume, and had a wolf head design on the face. The rest of her clothes also changed. Her breastplate was a white silver, like the rest of her armour. It had the symbol of bellona in purple in the centre, and had a white cape flowing off. The standards(skirt part) ended in spikes like most Roman armour, but they were designed to look like sword blades coming from the armour. Her leg plates had white fur lining the straps, to prevent chafing. Her boots looked basic, other than the fur coming up from the top.

"Uh. I thought I was the only one with cool, shape shifting armour." I stood there dumbfounded. Reyna smirked and replied.

"My mom gave this to me. She said a leader should never be outdone by their fellow leaders"

"Your mom is on that too"

"She's on Neptune's side. She said he's more powerful than most, which is why the Greeks hated him so much."

"My brother said the same thing. He said it's something about all the Cyclopes and Atlanteans. He doesn't need mortal prayers like the other gods."

"Ahhh, that makes sense. But less talking, more fighting."

"Sorry! Let's go." I uncapped Sonas, and she pulled her sword out of her sheath. It was a gladius, but was made of, you guessed it, white silver, and had a wolf design on the hilt. We rushed towards each other, and she leaped up. She tried slicing downwards, but I dodged out of the way. I swung at her back, but she blocked it in time. I decided to go on offence, as it's pretty dangerous to go on defence against a war demigod. I jabbed at her right, and she blocked again. I tried feinting a strike at her head, but she read me, and kicked my stomach. I stumbled back, and prepared for the flurry. She slashed at my left, which I blocked, but she hit so light, she had time to recover. She jabbed at my right almost immediately, and I almost missed her blade. She went to attack my right again, but I dodged in that direction, and slashed at her arm. Her momentum didn't let her turn in time, and I caught her elbow. I quickly jabbed at her leg, and she blocked. I decided to channel my inner Roman, and jabbed at her face, except it was with my fist. She looked stunned when it connected, so I continued. I slashed at her left, and she blocked it. I kicked her onto the floor, but she jumped up before I could get her to yield. She shoulder bashed me backwards, and slashed my leg with her sword. I winced, and backed up. I went to go slash her again, but she blocked the hit. She followed the block with an uppercut to my chin, which sent me back. She took the opening to throw me to the wall. I hit the wall, but dodged before she could stab my thigh. I decided it was time to use my powers, but started off lightly. I quickly summoned a puddle to give me a small boost, and then shot it at her face. I froze it before it hit her, and she stumbled. I then created a small tremor to cause her to completely fall, and created water tendrils to bind her down. I froze the tendrils, but she used a power I guess she had. It was almost like she summoned super strength, as she busted right up through the ice. I summoned an ice shield to block her next attack, but instead of shattering and making her recoil, it shattered and she kept going through. I had to twist to make sure she didn't cut off my hand, which allowed her to kick my foot out. She went to stab my head, but I rolled, and used the water to push me on my feet. By the time I was up, I had to dodge a dagger that was thrown at my head, and retaliated with an ice one of my own. She went to summon a dagger, a power I didn't know she had, and I threw another one of mine. They collided with each other in mid air, but I backed up before acknowledging it.

"Hold up." She immediately stopped her hand, about to throw another dagger.

"What? It was just getting good."

"First off, I didn't know you could summon daggers."

"I didn't know you could either."

"Fair enough. But second, can we make a rule where we don't, or we'll be doing it all day."

"Whatever."

"And real quick. Did you see ours hit each other in mid air!"

"Yeah! That was so cool!"

"I know. I wish we recorded that!"

"Anyways. Let's get back to the fight."

"Oh yeah. You've been doing good by the way."

"I know. I've been kicking your ass thing whole time."

"Ha! You wish." Before she could retaliate, I rushed towards her, and summoned an ice shield to bash her with. She went flying back, but did a flip and landed on her feet. She rushed back, and feinted a lunge at my right, but jumped to the left and slashed. I quickly blocked, and hit her in the chest with my hilt. She dodged and went to slash my foot. I lifted my foot and stomped it down on her blade, forcing her to drop it. She jumped back to dodge a slash at her stomach, and summoned another sword. I saw an aura of white surround her, and figured I should recharge quick. I summoned a bubble of water to surround me, and felt it rejuvenate me. I shot the water away from me, and noticed I had a blue aura surrounding me. 'Now it's even' I thought. We met each other and sent a flurry of attacks. It would alternate between she slashes, I block, I jab, she blocks, she jabs, I block, I slash, she blocks, etc. Eventually we both tired out, and began to circle each other. She lunged at my left, but I side stepped, I was too tired to retaliate, or use any more powers, so I just had to wait her out. I blocked another slash she sent at my hip, and kicked her back. Since she was so tired, she fell down, and I held my sword up to her throat.

"Shit!" She shouted.

"Told you I was better." I teased.

"Oh shut up. You were ready to drop." She took off her helmet, and her armour turned back into her clothes.

"But I didn't."

"You're so annoying."

"I know. But that's why you love me." I noticed her blush, and quickly turn away.

"Please. I hate you."

"Sure you do. Now, you wanna be refreshed?"

"Huh?"

"Follow me." I walked over to the water cooler, and took the jug off of the top.

"What are you doing?"

"Calm down. You'll see. Grab my hand."

"No! That's weird."

"Oh my gods. Are you afraid I have cooties."

"Maybe."

"Just grab my hand." She reached out and grabbed my hand, as I poured the water on my head. I felt it rush over me, and heal all of my cuts and bruises. I looked over to Reyna, and she looked like she spent the last 6 years at a spa and resort. Her face had pure bliss, and she smiled so warmly. After the water had all dropped to the ground, I dried us off, and let go of her.

"Wow. That felt so good."

"Welcome to my life."

"I wish that happened when I touched my sword or something."

"Maybe you do, you just haven't figured it out yet."

"Maybe. I guess I'll just have to kick Jason's ass some more before I fight you again."

"Well clearly he's not the person you should be sparing with, if I beat you."

"I'm sorry I don't have a god and the best fighters in the ocean to train with."

"Why don't you ask to train with Justin and Amanda."

"They're always busy. You know they're dating now right?"

"I heard. I like to think it was my doing."

"Why?"

"Well, I'd always try to convince Justin to ask her out, and I'd say they're like my mom and dad all of the time."

"Smart. But you know we all did the same thing right."

"Except I was there when it happened."

"You were? What happened?"

"I'm surprised you care."

"I kinda don't, but we don't talk much lately."

"Then let's talk about us."

"There's nothing to talk about, we live in Camp Jupiter. We can't go out and do things."

"That's true. I guess we have to get us all to hang out more."

"What would we even do?"

"I dunno, play games."

"Like what."

"I know! We should play hide and seek."

"Really. Hide and seek."

"Yeah! We can hide anywhere in the city. We take turns picking someone to be it. Oh, and we can come up with dates and stuff the winner or winners make the losers do."

"That actually sounds kinda fun!"

"I know. We should do it tomorrow, let's go tell the others." We ran off the the mess hall, hoping to tell the others the plan we had for tomorrow. When we got there, we ran right to the back where the others still were.

"Where do you guys go?" Leo asked.

"Probably to kiss each other." Piper joked. I blushed, and turned towards her.

"Shut up Piper!"

"Sorry, I was just joking." She said sarcastically.

"Anyways. Percy came up with a cool thing we could do tomorrow."

"Aren't you taking the trials?" Hazel asked.

"No. My dad said I should take them next week. So I wanna have a week of fun before then."

"Makes sense. What's the plan then?"

"Thanks for asking Frank. The plan is a full day of hide and seek."

"A full day? That's a lot of games." Alyssa protested.

"Well there's 9 of us. If we each take a turn being it that's 9 games. And we have to find 8 people in the entirety of New Rome."

"How do we keep in touch then?"

"We can use our iPods. We have a Snapchat group chat already." Jason suggested.

"Perfect. But we'll have to remove the seeker each round." I responded.

"Alright. But we still have the rest of today. What can we do?" Gwen asked.

"Why not have a brawl. We could do free for all." Hazel suggested. Me and Reyna immediately looked at each other.

"Yeah, uh...I'm gonna sit this one out." She said.

"Me too. I'm still pretty tired from my last fight."

"Aww come on! You're gonna lead me Reyna!" Jason argued.

"I'm sorry. But Percy and I just had a very intense fight. Plus, we all know the outcome if me and Percy were in."

"You're not gonna fight with us Perce?" Piper asked, gesturing to her and Hazel.

"Sorry Pipes. I'm too tired. It's not easy kicking Reyna's ass." Reyna slapped my arm. "Ow!"

"It's fine. Jason, why don't you get your friend from the 1st and we can do 4v4 and different games and stuff." Frank said.

"Oh yeah! Octavian would love you guys!"

"Ugh! Octavian! Please do not introduce him to our friend group."

"Reyna, yeah he's annoying, but he doesn't really have friends."

"So. He's creepy. And he's an ass."

"Let's give him a chance. He can't be that bad." Alyssa said.

"Whatever. But he's not playing hide and seek with us tomorrow."

"We'll vote on it today. Let's at least meet him first." Gwen concluded. Reyna looked like she wanted to kill all of them, so I decided to end the conversation.

"Well, we'll see you guys later." I grabbed Reyna and brought her over to the table as the others left for the arena.

"Jeez Reyna. What's up with this Octavian kid?"

"He's an asshole."

"Yeah but, why." She sighed and answered back.

"Many reasons. He's always making fun of the other cohorts during war games, and...other things."

"What other things?"

"Well, first of all he's really obsessed with me. He's always trying to talk to me and be near me." She looked uncomfortable, but I knew there was more.

"What else?"

"He...he makes fun of you too."

"That's it. You hate him because he makes fun of me."

"Yeah. You're my friend. I don't like when people make fun of you. Only I can do that."

"Oh my gods Reyna. Half the camp makes fun of me. Are you gonna hate all of them too?"

"Yes. You're better than them anyways."

"You know, you can't hate half of the camp if you're gonna rule them."

"I know, but it makes me mad."

"Shouldn't I be the one worrying about that?"

"Well, yeah. But you're my friend. I have to stick up for you." I rested my hand on hers, both of us blushing a lot.

"Thank you Reyna. But don't worry about them. We'll take care of them when we run the camp." She turned to look me in my eyes. She was smiling, and I could see a glint of white silver in her black eyes. I pulled away and she looked down at her plate.

"So, you have any enemies in the 3rd?"

"Not really. Though, I can't really be sure."

"I guess so. Is there anybody you know you can trust?"

"There's a few. My centurions are really relaxed, but they're kinda supportive with me. And the trainer is really good and teaches me a lot."

"Not like you need the training."

"You did give me a good fight back there though."

"Perce. I'm not an idiot. I know you didn't go all out."

"I didn't want to hurt you. If you want me to drown you next time, let me know." We chuckled. We sat in silence for another minute, before I broke it.

"Wanna go do something?"

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Why don't we go into the city?" She did a fake gasp.

"Perseus no middle name Jackson. Are you asking me on a date?" She couldn't keep a straight face when saying it, but tried to be serious.

"Maybe I am, Reyna Aleve Ramínez Avocado. Close enough."

"Nowhere near close."

"Meh. I don't speak Spanish."

"You speak Latin!"

"That's besides the point. Now are we going into the city or what."

"Yeah whatever. Lemme grab something quick though." I followed her to her barracks, where she went inside. I waited by the entrance for a minute, until she emerged with her good luck charm.

"You didn't wear that today?"

"I forgot to put it on, since all of the celebrations were happening. Plus, my mom changed it to a white chain so it matches with my armour." Mine was similar, since it turned into a sea green hoodie, and a pair of royal blue shorts. I also had a pair of blue human race shoes, and sea green socks.

"Smart. Luckily my armour does the shapeshift thing too, so I don't have to constantly change."

"Do you think we'll be the only ones with these cool things?" She asked.

"Gods no. Jupiter and Pluto will have to give Hazel and Jason their own. We are the only ones with the charms, so we'll be the ones with the armour."

"That's true. Jason will probably get his tonight, Hazel will get hers soon enough."

"It's not that bad, we are all friends."

"Oh I know, it's just annoying we can't have anything they won't."

"That's not true, we'll be the only ones with purple capes soon enough."

"Ok. Now you're the one obsessed with becoming praetor."

"I'm just tryna cheer you up."

"I appreciate it. I'm glad you wanna rule with me."

"Are you kidding me. That's the only part I'm not looking forward to."

"Didn't you ask me on the date today?"

"It's not a date. We're just walking through the city."

"I know. But it's fun seeing you blush."

"What happened to the stern, fighting Reyna?"

"I think Piper has been rubbing off on me."

"You can tell." She bumped my arm and we stopped at the fountain in the centre of the city. I pulled a bag of denarii.

"Wanna make a wish?"

"Why not." She grabbed a coin out of the bag and mumbled something to herself. She then threw the coin into the fountain, and it disappeared when it hit the water. "Did we just come to make wishes" She asked.

"Kinda. It is the feast of Fortuna, I figured today would be the best day to make I wishes."

"Wow. Seaweed brain said something smart."

"Shut up. It's not the first time."

"But it doesn't happen a lot."

"And you called Octavian mean."

"Oh Percy. I'm just joking."

"I know war girl. Where should we go next?"

"Well, I'm getting kinda tired. Why don't we just go to bed."

"Really? It's only like, 8."

"I know, but that fight drained me, I hardly ever use those powers."

"Oh, ok. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow Perce." She gave me a quick hug, and began walking back to her barracks. I decided that, since I wasn't tired, I would just go to the arena with the others. I walked all the way back through the city, and opened the doors of the coliseum. The first thing I saw was Alyssa and Gwen sitting on the bench, the rest in the centre. Leo and Piper were fighting against Frank and some kid I've never seen before, Octavian. Jason and Hazel were fighting each other, though it looked pretty even. When they noticed me, they all stopped for a second, and I could swear I saw Octavian snarl.

"Sup guys. Having fun without me?"

"Hey Perce. Where's Reyna?" Jason asked.

"She went back to bed. She was pretty tired from earlier."

"Smart idea. I should probably do the same, especially since you're here now." Octavian said. Knowing what Reyna said about him, I didn't want her to deal with him right now.

"Actually, why don't you stay. We could get to know each other." I grabbed his arm, stopping him from walking. He answered me, through very gritted teeth.

"Sure. Why not." He walked back over to the centre.

"How will we play now?" Alyssa asked.

"What do you mean?" Jason replied.

"There's nine of us. That's not even teams."

"Then let's do free for all." Frank suggested.

"Ugh. But that's so boring." Hazel argued.

"Actually, you know what. I think I'm gonna go to bed too. I never realized how tired I was with Reyna."

"Aww come on. You can't just leave like that."

"I know Leo. I'm sorry. But we still have tomorrow."

"I guess. But we should make it you have to fight the person in order to get tagged."

"Good idea Frank. But you're all getting your asses kicked when I'm it."

"Yeah Yeah Jason. Anyways. Night guys." They all said goodnight, and I stepped out of the coliseum. I decided not to walk tonight, and to try this new power I developed. I stepped into an ally, and created a small pool of water to jump in. I jumped into the water, and appeared jumping out of the fountain in front of the third barracks. Most people were still partying, so nobody got to see my cool powers. I walked into the barracks, and took off my armour. Well, technically it was my clothes, but they turned back to armour when I put them on my stand. I payed down in my bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

 _Line Break_

Two young teens walked up to a hotel at the end of a block, all around them, were large signs, and lights, displaying the names of several hotels and casinos. Normally, they would walk into the first hotel they could find, and try to sneak some room keys, but the hotel they were going to, was special. The boy, Nico, looked above where they were standing.

"Lotus Hotel and Casino."

"We're finally here." Thalia stated.

"Now, is there anything you need to do before we go in. We're gonna be trapped for a few years."

"I think we're all good. Hopefully the years go by fast though."

"Then, let's walk in." They stepped through the doors, and were immediately greeted by a middle aged woman, with long black hair.

"Welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino, if you follow me to the desk I'll help you check into your rooms."

"Thanks but, we already have a room." Nico pulled two hotel cards out of his pocket. They both had the picture of a lotus flower, with a diamond in the centre to indicate they had a penthouse suite.

"Very well. The elevator is behind you. Have a nice stay." As soon as she finished talking, she went back to talking to guests, and other newcomers.

"So. You ready to see the rooms?" Thalia asked. She plucked one of the cards out of Nico's hand, and walked over to the elevators. She scanned the card on the reader, and the doors opened with seconds. They stepped inside, and prepared for the lotus trap.

"So, you ready to be trapped for half a decade?"

"As long as we actually get out, I'm perfectly fine with that."

"I don't think our dads would lie to us about that."

"You never know. Gods have been deceiving in the past."

"Still. We're the only demigods they've had I over had a century. They wouldn't just kill us or leave us stranded forever." As he finished his sentence, the doors opened up to a large penthouse. Even though they knew it was some type of magic, they were still amazed at the size.

"I guess being the children of the kings of the earth and sky has its perks."

"Look. There's the flowers." He pointed at a dish in the kitchen table. It was a round platter, with 4 lotus flowers set on it. The two walked towards the table and picked up a flower.

"Three. Two. One."

 _Line Break_

The throne room on Olympus was completely silent. The 12 Olympians sat in their thrones, staring at where the iris message once was. The king of the Olympians, Jupiter, turned towards his brother.

"Well. It seems you were right about your boy."

"I told you he was powerful. I would not ask you to seclude your other child had I not believed so." Another god turned towards them and spoke.

"I don't know if he's that special. My niece was able to go toe to toe with him for almost an entire spar." Before Neptune could respond, the goddess, Ceres, answered him.

"Yes, but Percy was not using his full potential." A goddess at the very end of the U spoke up."

"And he was pulling his punches. It's clear he likes the girl, he did not want to harm her." The other Olympians looked at her for a second, before continuing the conversation.

"I agree with Mars. The kid is good, but he's only in the third. He's not getting the best training there." Mercury's said.

"Plus, soon enough the children in 3rd and 4th will be able to beat him."

"I agree, Apollo. That is why I have told him to take the trials next week." This sentence brought the council to an uproar. Artemis and Apollo were screaming at each other, mainly because Diana wanted Reyna and Hazel to lead together. Minerva oddly sided with Neptune, and argued with Mars about whether Percy is fit to lead. Ceres and Neptune were arguing with Juno and Jupiter, about whether he is too young to take the trials. Venus and Bacchus were staying out of the argument, and oddly enough, Mercury and Vulcan were arguing about Percy being too attached to his friends. Once Jupiter had enough, he slammed his bolt on the ground.

"ORDER! Now, we shall have a council vote on the matter."

"There is no vote to make. The choice is Percy's. And the gods can not interfere with his trials, or else they will be punished in Tartarus for centuries."

"Calm down brother. We are just worried for the boys safety. Nobody has taken the trials in years, and they were all at least 3 years older than him." Juno said.

"I know Juno. But I think we all know he doesn't have 3 years until he needs to start training."

"As much as I hate to agree with him. Neptune is right. The boy is young, but he needs the training." Minerva stated.

"There's no way he'll survive the trials. He's not powerful enough." Artemis argued.

"He was training with Triden and the best Atlantean sword fighters there are for 2 years, so he could pass this. He has more powers than any of my Greek children ever have, especially at his age. He is the child of the prophecy, we agreed on it. That is why I have been training him for this exact moment."

"Are you sure about that brother. I know you want more than just our survival in this boy's hands. You want him to restore your name in the eyes of the Romans. I will not have you interfering with the great prophecy, all so you can have some extra glory!"

"I'm going to set aside my anger for what you just said, because you trapped you me daughter in the Lotus den. But if you EVER question my loyalty again, I will kill you myself. Perseus is my first Roman demigod, so yes, I do want him to have success, but I would never risk my life, and my people's lives, and my family's lives, just so the Romans would give me a better temple." Neptune hadn't realized it, but during his speech, he had created a pool of water at Jupiter's feet, slowly rising up. He let the water dissipate, as he waited for any other arguments. When none came, he decided to finish. "I know he is young, but he has trained his entire life to become something greater than a demigod. If anyone still has doubts, I can show you his training, but you have to trust me. I would never want the council to be destroyed...Well, other than Minerva." The Olympians laughed at his last comment, but Minerva merely rolled her eyes.

"Very well. If you truly feel he is ready, we will prepare the trials. But if he dies, know the end of the world is in your hands." Without another word, Jupiter flashed out of the throne room, quickly followed by the other gods. Neptune sighed, and flashed back to his palace in Atlantis. He appeared in his throne, beside his wife Salacia. She noticed his tired face and leaned next to him.

"Tough meeting?"

"Very much so."

"What happened?"

"They think the trials will kill Percy."

"I think we were expecting that. Did they say he can't take them?"

"No. I managed to convince them, though some of them weren't happy."

"You can't blame him you know. He trapped his daughter in the Lotus den just so Perseus would be the prophecy child."

"I know. But she will he let out. And we all koe Nico or Thalia couldn't be the prophecy child. The Greeks are too wild, and unorganized. Plus, the Romans outnumber them seven to one."

"I'm not disagreeing with you, that's one of the reason I allowed you to have him. But I'm just telling you to take a step in their shoes. You're lucky Pluto still likes you."

"I suppose. Now, enough about all that. I'm taking you to a new fancy restaurant tonight. It just opened up in Los Angeles."

"Ouuu. I thought we stopped going on dates two thousand years ago."

"A man's gotta please his wife. Plus, we should really get more kids around here."

"Don't even joke about that. After Cymopoleia, Rhode, and Triden, I don't think I want to try again."

"That is true. I suppose my kids have always been better with mortals." This seemed to have struck a nerve with Salacia, as she immediately got up and walked away. "Babe! I'm kidding! Come on, we still have dinner to go to!" Neptune called out. 'Well, I'm sleeping on the couch tonight,' he thought to himself, as he began walking towards his room.

 ** _An. Hey guys. I think this is the quickest update I've done. Now, I'm not gonna spoil much of the trials, but it will essentially be replacing the quest from the lightning thief. This update would've come out sooner, but I got to 5000 words and decided to rewrite the chapter. The original was too rushed, and I know this is also pretty rushed, but it's gonna slow down a lot from here. One more change I made from the books, was Percy's god mode. From here on out, the fight scenes are going to be as long as the one with Reyna, or longer depending on the person. Obviously some will be shorter like when he fights a newbie or a hellhound or something, but I want this to be more like the heroes of Olympus stories, where it took more than just a disarm technique, and a butt of the hilt to beat someone. Also, the fight at the beginning, was mainly just to show how there are some differences between Vulcan and Hephaestus kids, where the Vulcan kids would be way better in a fight, but still able to craft. That's all I'm gonna say for now, so enjoy the rest of your lives until you read the next chapter. Oh and, don't forget to review. This book is for everyone to fill the void Uncle Rick left us with, so I'd love to hear some suggestions to make it better. Now it's goodbye for real._**


	7. The Trials

**Percy PoV**

I was having a nice dream, about living in Atlantis with my family, and not having to worry about wars and armies, when a pillow hit me in the face. I shot up from my bed, and saw Hazel smiling at me.

"What the Pluto was that for?" I asked her. She kept smiling and pointed at a clock.

"Watch it, that's my dad. You slept in. I came to get you for hide and seek." I noticed the clock said 9:00, and panicked.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Give me a minute to get dressed."

"Sure thing." She walked out of the barracks, and I shot our bed. I went over to my armour stand, and put it on. I morphed it into clothing form, and grabbed my jewelry. I came up with a new idea I wanted to bring in today's game. I stepped outside, where Hazel was still waiting for me.

"Took you long enough."

"What do you mean! I was like 3 minutes."

"Plus the hour you slept in."

"Oh shut up. I don't have anyone to wake me up."

"Whatever. Let's go to the others."

"See you there."

"What do you-" I was cut off by her disappearing into a shadow. 'I didn't know she could do that!' I thought to myself. I decided not to be outdone, and hopped into the fountain in front of the barracks. I appeared out of a small fish pond at the principia, where my friends looked very surprised.

"Since when can you appear out of water?" Hazel asked.

"I guess you're not the only person with teleportation powers." I said.

"Wait. You two can both teleport." Jason asked.

"What's wrong Jace? Feeling left out?" Piper asked.

"Aww. It's ok buddy. I'm sure you'll find some cool powers soon enough." Leo added.

"I have cool powers!" He argued.

"Making thunder sounds isn't powers." Alyssa teased. We all laughed, except for Jason.

"Anyways. I had an idea. Why don't we make this man hunt." I suggested. "But. You have to fight the person to tag them."

"Are you insane! We'll tire out by the second round!" Gwen shouted.

"I like the idea though." Frank agreed.

"Why don't we make it to first hit."

"Good idea Reyna. So hider gets hit first, they join the hunter. Hunter gets hit first, hider gets how long to run away?" Leo asked.

"30 seconds. And the hunters have their eyes closed." Alyssa concluded.

"Perfect. Let's get started. Now, who hunts first?" Jason questioned.

"Well, since you seem so eager to start Jason. Why don't you hunt first."

"No problem." He said. He looked happy he was going first, and began counting down. "100, 99, 98…" Jason began counting as everyone scattered. Frank and Leo ran towards the east of the city, towards the kids house. Reyna and Gwen ran north, towards the Legion armoury. Piper and Alyssa ran south, towards the coliseum, and I ran west, towards the little tiber. I looked behind me, and noticed Hazel following. She caught up, and we began discussing hiding spots.

"Where are you going?" She asked me.

"The little Tiber." I responded. "I can breathe underwater, so I figured I wouldn't get caught."

"Oh yeah, you weren't there for that."

"Wasn't where for what?"

"Yesterday we made a rule saying no powers to hide, since it would make it impossible to find some people."

"Oh. That makes sense."

"So. Now what's you plan."

"I'm assuming only public buildings are allowed." I had stopped running to think of a good hiding spot.

"Yes. It wouldn't be fair to hide in a someone's house."

"Thought so. Where's your hiding space?" I asked her.

"I'm going to the university campus. They have a tour going on today and I was going to sneak in."

"Smart. And that gave me an idea."

"What's your idea?"

"I'm going to the praetor house."

"That's the exact opposite of what I'm doing."

"That's how I got the idea. The underworld is small and crowded, the sea is large and open. That's why I'm hiding there."

"Just don't let Justin and Amanda catch you. You know how mad they'll be if they see you playing."

"They're probably not in right now. They have praetor stuff."

"Well good luck. You still have to get to the South of the city.

"I can do it. But good luck too." She began running to the university, and I started for the alleys. I weaved my way between garbage cans, puddles, and rats, as I made my way to the praetor house. I almost tripped a few times, but luckily it was only a few blocks away. Climbing over the last fence, I looked across the street and saw my destination. I ran inside the house, making sure to close the door behind me. Once I was inside, I immediately ran to the basement, and hid inside the artifact room. It was a tiny space at the back, that was used to store magical or just ancient artifacts that the owner didn't want, or if they passed away. Every item had its own case, and there was a card underneath every case that said what it was, who it belonged to, who took it, when it was taken, and where it was taken from. I began looking around, until I noticed something odd. At the end of the "Ancient Greece" table, was an empty sword case. The glass wasn't broken, which means a praetor has to have taken it out, seeing as they're the only ones with keys. I approached the spot, reading the card carefully.

Titan Sword

Weapon of Pallas, Atlas, Krios

Recovered by

Justin Hart-Son of Virtus

Found at Mount Othrys 2015

I nearly fell down when I read that. Justin went to Mount Othrys and found a sword used by the titans! I was also concerned because of the empty case. If Justin found this and wanted to use it, the case and card would've never been put here. But if he did put it here originally, why take it out now? My mind began racing, thinking of what could possibly be the explanation, when I decided not to worry about it. The only person that would have been able to take it out is Justin, since he's the one who owns it, and he's a praetor, so I decided to keep looking at other artifacts. I began to look at the "Medieval Europe" tables, and found some more interesting things.

Praetor Laurel

Golden Laurel of Lancelot

Recovered by

Ashar Clyne-Son of Apollo

Found at New Rome Ruins 1568

Centurion Shield

Shield of Joan D'arc

Recovered by

Elianna Pike-Daughter of Jupiter

Found at French Battlefield 1435

Moving on to the Ancient Rome section, I found probably the best stuff in here. There was Julius Caesar's cape, Augustus Caesar's sword, A golden Denarris with Nero's face on it, and a pile of seashells from Caligula's "War on Neptune". This stuff was amazing, but on the table beside it, were the godly artifacts. There were only about fourteen artifacts, but each of them were equal to twenty things in another section. In order they were;

Diamond Trident

Weapon of Neptune

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Winged Sandals

Armour of Mercury

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Golden Spear

Weapon of Juno

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Silver Bow and Arrows

Weapon of Diana

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Bronze Breastplate

Armour of Pluto

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

First Roman Fire

Artifact of Vesta

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Golden Owl Coin

Artifact of Minerva

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Bronze Shield

Weapon of Ceres

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Golden Dagger

Weapon of Apollo

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Steel Leg Plates

Armour of Vulcan

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Iron Thyrsus

Weapon of Bacchus

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Golden Helmet

Armour of Jupiter

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Bronze Axe

Weapon of Mars

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Iron Sword

Weapon of Venus

Recovered by

Zoe Nightshade-Daughter of Atlas

Found at Roman Olympus 1 BC

Looking at all of the tags, I noticed they were all recovered by the same person. The persons name was Zoe Nightshade, a daughter of Atlas. They were also all recovered at "Roman Olympus, 1 BC". I kept looking around for a couple minutes, until I noticed an Arcus message appear. In the picture, Reyna was looking around the room in awe.

"Are you in the Praetor house?" She asked.

"Yeah! There's so much cool stuff in here!"

"Do those really say what I think they say?"

"Yup. Ancient armour and weapons from the gods. Where are you by the way?" Percy looked behind Reyna, and she looked like she was out in the open.

"I circled back to the starting point." Percy was about to ask another question, when Reyna suddenly shot up. He heard the clash of metal, and then the message was swept away by Reynas sword. Percy was nervous, but he knew Reyna could hold her own. He decided to rest for a bit, and wait till the round was over.

 _Line Break_

Percy was woken up by the sound of a ringing phone. He quickly shot up from the basement floor, and pulled out his iPod. He answered the Snapchat call, and saw Jason and Reyna on the call.

"Where the hell are you Percy?" Jason asked him. "Reyna and Hazel wouldn't tell me.

"I'm at the praetor house. I'm guessing this means I won?"

"Obviously. Were only a few blocks away. Meet us at Olympus Ice Cream." Reyna says.

"Alright. See you soon." I rubbed my eyes clean, and began to exit the house. As I ran up the stairs, I decided to check the time. Pulling out my phone, the clock said it was already 11:48. That means I was sleeping for almost three hours. I put my phone back in my pocket as I opened the door to the Praetor house, and stepped outside. Once I had been jogging for a minute or two, I finally reached the ice cream parlour. Everyone was waiting outside, and as soon as I approached them, Jason slapped me with the side of his gladius.

"You're it!" He shouted, before taking a bowl of ice cream out of Pipers hand.

"Hold on, I won. That means I decide who seeks next!"

"We never agreed on that Perce, and all of us agree that it should be you." Hazel said, with a devious smirk. I wanted to argue back, but it was eight against one.

"Fine. I'll seek." I said through gritted teeth. The group cheered while finishing up their ice cream, and I closed my eyes. As I began counting though, I heard Hazel whisper something to me.

"Meet me in the parlour." I was confused, but continued counting the full one-hundred. Once I finished, I made my way inside, to see Hazel with 2 bowls of ice cream in her hands. I sat in the booth with her, and she held one out to me.

"Two things. One, What flavour. Two, shouldn't I be searching?"

"One, it's blue dyed mint chocolate chip. Two, they can wait the extra couple minutes."

"Since when do you act like this?" I asked her.

"Perce. You're one of my best friends, and in five days you're taking the most dangerous trials in camp."

"So why are we hanging out now, instead of a day where we're not playing man hunt?"

"Because, Jason and Reyna wastes time going on a date when they were looking for me, so I want to screw them over." Hearing this made me a bit upset, but I tried not to show it.

"Oh." I simply responded. Hazel looked at me a bit sad.

"You like her don't you?" She asked. There was no point in lying, Hazel was good with secrets.

"Yeah. That's one of the reasons I've been so upset with her and Jason going to first together."

"Well, after next week you'll be there with her. And if it doesn't work out with you two, I happen to know Piper is really interested in you." She said. I might have been wrong when I said she's good with secrets.

"I don't know. I don't mind too much, and plus, I think I should wait a bit before I start dating. Who knows what will happen in the next few years." She gave me an encouraging smile.

"But anyways. Do you like anyone?" I asked her, taking another bite of ice cream.

"Well, me and Frank talk a lot. And I think he's really sweet." She said, blushing through the entire sentence.

"That's good. You two seem great for each other."

"The only problem, I think he likes Gwen."

"Everybody likes more than one person, you just have to make them like you more."

"I don't know, then I feel like I'm screwing over Gwen."

"You're too nice. If you keep not doing stuff because other people want to, you'll never do anything."

"I know. But there's no point in doing it in something like this, it's not like my life depends on it."

"Just, at least talk to him like you would ask him out, because he can choose too."

"I guess, now we should get to searching." She stood up, throwing her ice cream bowl in the trash. I quickly ate my last few bites, before throwing mine out as well. We made our way outside, and began heading to the arena.

 _Line Break_

The rest of the round went pretty well, I had found Leo and Frank in the arena, Then we caught Jason trying to fly above the rooftops in the city. Finally we found Piper and Reyna hiding in the bushes near the fountain in the centre of the city. Once all of them had been found, I went to call Alyssa. She answered, but instead of hearing her through the phone, I heard her talking behind me. I turned around, and looked into the bushes. At first I didn't notice anything until she jumped out at me.

"Holy shit Alyssa!" I screamed.

"What? I won didn't I?" She said.

We spent the rest of the day playing hide and seek. It was going pretty well, but eventually we got tired of it. Once Frank had found everyone, we decided to head back to our barracks. It wasn't late, but running around the city for multiple hours can tire you out pretty fast. When I opened the door to the barracks, I saw Marissa, a daughter of Orcus, and Vince, a son of Aeolus, playing a card game at the table. They were both around 16, and strong fighters in our cohort. It looked like they were doing more than just playing cards, so I slipped passed them and went into the hallway. Instead of going to my bed, I decided to check and see if the few friends I had in the barracks were here. Over the two years, not many people talked to me, but a group of 14 and 15 year olds decided they would let me into their group of friends. I opened the door to the middle room, and three of them were there. They were sitting on the couch, and playing video games with each other. I approached them, and they paused the game to say hi.

"Hey kid. How's your day been?" The one on the far left asked. He was tall, with red eyes and black hair. His name was Jordan, and he was the son of Vulcan. He had a girl cuddled up into his shoulder, who raised up as they talked to me. She was Asian, and was fairly short. She had black hair, brown eyes, and was the daughter of Invidia. Lastly was the girl in the middle of the couch. She was also somewhat short, with glowing blonde hair, and vibrant blue eyes. She had golden skin, like all of the Apollo kids, though she preferred dagger combat over archery. I sat at the other end of the couch, and turned to them.

"Pretty interesting. I played hide and seek with my friends, but that's about it."

"That's not bad. You wanna play some games?" Nina, the Asian girl, asked.

"No thanks. I just came to rest for a bit." I answered.

"When are you taking the trials again?" The other girl, Alessia, asked.

"In a few days. I'm really stressed about it."

"Why Wait that whole time then?" Nina suggested.

"If anything, waiting longer will just stress you out more." Alessia added.

"Good idea!" I exclaimed, shooting up from the couch.

"Be careful Percy, you need to be fully prepared for the trials. Even if you think you're ready." Jordan warned.

"Thanks for the advice. I'll see you guys tonight." I said, as I walked out the room. I made my way back through the entrance room, where Marissa and Vince had turned their card game into a full on make out session. I made my way to the arena, and was pleasantly surprised. All three of our trainers were here, as well as the centurions, and a few more legionnaires. I walked up to Austin, and he began apologizing immediately.

"Percy. I'm so sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to hurt or scare you like that."

"It's fine Austin. I know you didn't mean to, it was just your Vulcan rage.

"I know. I haven't used it in a while, so I kinda lost it then."

"I understand. But I should learn how to deal with it eventually, who knows what I'll run into in my life."

"Hopefully not much, but we both know that's not gonna happen." We both laughed, and the other two trainers approached us.

"What're you two laughing about?" The first one asked. His name was Parker, and he was a son of Mars. He wasn't from the third cohort, but he decided to train us for his volunteer hours at first. After he was done, he decided to keep doing it because he actually like it. He was very tall, and rugged. He had light brown hair, with dark brown eyes. He was accompanied by a girl, Chelsea. She was around the same height as Parker, though she was much leaner. She had strawberry blonde hair, with red streaks, and green eyes. She was a daughter of Mercury, as reflected by her immense speed and agility.

"We were just discussing how I almost killed him yesterday."

"I don't think that's how we're supposed to train them." Chelsea said.

"It was an accident. His Vulcan rage kicked in." I defended.

"You still have that? I haven't seen you use it in a couple years. Parker asked.

"I haven't. Percy slashed me, and I guess it reactivated it in me."

"You should probably get that back under control. Wanna spar, see if we can figure it out?" Parker asked.

"Sure thing." Austin answered. The two walked out towards the middle, leaving me with Chelsea.

"So, you down for a sparring match?" She asked.

"No offence, but no. You're way to good. I'd rather fight someone closer to my level."

"Oh come on. I'll go easy on you." I took a second to think about it.

"Fine. But don't go too easy."

"I would never. Now get ready." I smiled, and pulled my hood over my head. I was surrounded by a blue aura, and my armour began forming from my helmet down. Once it was done, I took Sonas out of my pocket, and uncapped it. My cohort were distracted by my show for a second, before returning to their fights.

"Pretty cool right?" I asked Chelsea.

"Well sure, but light shows aren't gonna kill the monsters." She responded.

"So harsh." I whispered to myself, before I began stepping away from her. Once I was a good distance away, I turned back around. Before I could ask if she was ready, she began rushing at me. Wielding a spear, she lunged at me, aiming at my left thigh. I sidestepped her attack, and swung at her leg. She twisted her body to dodge, swiping her spear at me as she did. I was forced to duck, and she kneed me in the chest. I stumbled backwards, dropping to the floor. She jumped towards me trying to pin me down, but I formed a puddle under me and disappeared into it. I formed another puddle behind her, and kicked her back when I emerged. I chilled the water I summoned into ice, and sent it flying at her head. She sidestepped out of the way, but the ice exploded in front of her, hitting her with a few shards of hail. She recovered quickly, and smiled deviously at me.

"So, you really have been training a lot." She said. I began to charge at her, but she used her spear to vault over me. I turned around, while forming an ice shield, and stopped her jab at my chest. The spear implanted into my shield, and I used it to yank the spear out of her hands. I went to slice at her arm, but at almost inhuman speed, she managed to pull her dagger out and block it. I went to punch her in the stomach, but she caught my fist. She pulled my towards her, and I stumbled right past her. She slashed a large cut on my back, but I turned back around before she could continue. I partied a jab she sent at my neck, and followed up by slashing her left leg. She took a few steps back, and threw her dagger at me. I rolled to the right, and she raced at me with another dagger. Before she could attack though, I summons another shield, and uppercut her just as she got into my guard. She flew back a few feet, and landed on the ground. She tried to get up, but I summons water to hold her arms and legs down. I approached her, and held my sword to her throat.

"I surrender." She said. I willed the water towards me and felt it heal my injuries as she got up. As I shook her hand, cheers erupted on the arena floor. We looked around, and saw that everyone stopped their sparring to watch us. "And you said I was too good for you." Chelsea said.

"You are, you just didn't know I could do that stuff."

"Fair enough." She responded, chuckling. James and Kiara approached us from behind, and congratulated me.

"Nice job Percy. You'll do fine in the trials." Liam congratulated.

"Thanks. But I learned a lot of this stuff from you guys."

"You're too modest. But I do expect some recognition when you leave here." He joked.

"Of course. I'll see if I can get you promoted too." I joked.

"Don't do that! The third is perfect, we get enough training to have fun, but we don't have to stress it like the first two." Kiara retorted.

"Maybe that's why they see us as lazy." I said, as I began to leave the arena.

"Where are you going?" They asked.

"Probably to he see his girlfriend" Chelsea teased.

"Reyna or Piper?" James asked, also teasingly.

"I hate you guys." I said, as I turned around and walked through the doors. That fight made me a lot more confident in myself, so I decided it was time. I thought about what my friends said, and they were right. Waiting longer will just cause more stress, so I started my way to the praetor house.

It took me a few minutes to get there, but eventually I made it. I walked inside, and heard Justin and Amanda's voices in the back.

"Hello? Where are you guys?" I called out.

"Percy? What are you doing here?" Justin called out. They emerged from his room, and approached me.

"If you're going to tell us about Alyssa, Jason and Reyna already told us." Amanda let me know.

"It's not that." I told her. "It's about the trials. I want to do them tomorrow." I told them.

"Percy. You're not supposed to take them for a few more days. Are you sure you're prepared?" Justin asked.

"No, but what can change between tomorrow and four days from now."

"A lot Percy. You need to make sure you're trained properly. You can't mess this up." Amanda assured.

"I Know that. But I want to do it. It's only causing more stress waiting." They looked at each other for a second, before Justin turned back to me.

"Alright. We'll sign the papers to let you take them tomorrow. Be awake early, they start at ten o'clock."

"I will. Thank you."

"Go get some rest. And be prepared with everything you own tomorrow." He adds. I wave goodbye to them, and make my way back to the barracks. I decided to go to sleep extremely early, so that way I could wake up extra early tomorrow. I sent a message to all of my friends about the plan, and crawled into my bed.

 _Line Break_

I woke up at seven the next morning, and began getting ready. I put on my armour, and put Sonas in its sheath. I put on my good luck charm, and strung Python (Markus' bow) across my back. I made my way out of the barracks,and towards the main arena.

I had been training with an automation for about two hours, until I heard the doors open. I looked toward them, and saw Reyna and Jason Walk inside.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked them.

"Looking for you. You can't expect us to not be worried before you take the trials."

"I didn't say that. I just thought you would get here when it starts." Jason said, pulling out his iPod. He began typing as Reyna spoke up again.

"What happened, I thought you weren't supposed to do this for another three days."

"I decided to do it earlier. Get it off my mind, y'know." I answered. Jason stopped typing and put his iPod away.

"I told the others where we are. And you should've at least told us before you did it."

"Why. It makes no difference."

"Because we just lost Alyssa! She's missing, and the next day you decide to do something this dangerous!" Reyna screams at me.

"I'm not gonna lose. I'm the prophecy child, and there's no way the fates are making it be Jason." I joked.

"Not now. For all we know, we could all die before we turn sixteen, and someone else will have to do it."

"I find that very unlikely, besides, the trials aren't as bad as people make them seem."

"Dude. Literally nobody knows what they are. The gods can make them whatever they want." Jason warns.

"You know the entire council has to agree with it right. And my father is on that council. He wouldn't let them go too far."

"You better hope not. I know some gods and goddesses aren't so forgiving." He argues.

"I'm sure the good ones outweigh the bad." I look up towards the sky in the arena. "It's up to you guys to decide which ones are bad." I say, still looking at the open sky. Jason and Reyna look at me for a second. "What? You think they're not watching us right now. I'm just give them some humour." They chuckle at my response.

"Alright there Ferris Beuler. Quit breaking the fourth wall and let's get to training. The others should be here to join us at any second." Reyna jokes.

"Whatever. So what do you two say, me against you two."

"Are you trying to get your ass kicked?" Jason taunts.

"Maybe. Come at me to find out."

"Hold on. I need to grab my armour." Reyna says. She pulls a good over her head, and her clothes begin to morph into her armour. Once she's finished she turns towards Jason.

"Hey. Where's your arm-oh." He looks enraged as Reyna and I laugh at him. We were only joking, but it was funny to see how angry he got.

"We're supposed to be fighting him, not each other."

"That doesn't mean I can't make fun of you." She answers. Jason mumbles something to himself as I back a few steps away from them.

"What are we saying, full powers?" I ask them.

"Quarter. Wait until the others get here for that. We can split up teams evenly then." Jason suggests.

"Fair enough." I say. I pull out Sonas, and summon an ice shield for protection. Reyna summons a shield as well, and pulls her sword out too. Jason finished putting on a spare set of armour from the arena, and grabbed a spear from the rack. He walked over to Reyna, and got into his battle stance. They make the first move, Reyna rushing in fast, while Jason comes in a bit slower. I stand my ground, blocking her first strike with my sword. She slashes at my head, which I easily duck, but Jason's ready to skewer me. I kick her back, and catch Jason's spear on my shield. It cracks greatly, so I use it to smash into Reynard she runs towards me again. She stumbles back again, and Jason approaches my right side. He jabs his spear at my stomach, and I backstep to dodge it. He swings it sideways, and I stop it with my sword, but Reyna jumps over the blades, and tackles me to the ground. Before we hit the ground, I summon water to propel her off me. I land back against the ground, and she somersaults a few feet behind me. I jump back up to my feet, summoning another shield just in time to block Jason's next swing. I catch the middle of his shaft, and swing my sword upwards, slicing it in half. Before I can act on it, I turn around blocking a slash from Reyna. She slams her blade into my shield, cracking it even more. I slice at her right arm, but she side steps away. She lunges at me again, but we lock blades. She tries to over power me, but I uppercut her in the stomach with my shield. It shatters on impact, so it doesn't hurt too much. She girls over, and I hold my sword up to her.

"I surrender." She says. Jason arrives back with a sword, but realized he took too long.

"Shit!" He shouts.

"You two have been fighting each other too much." I tell them. "You need better teamwork." We walk over to the cooler and pour some water.

"Whatever. It's just because I used a spear."

"No, it's because you left me to get another one."

"How did you want me to fight him!?" He shouts.

"Not like an idiot!" She shouts back.

"Ladies, ladies. You can argue later, it's fighting time now." We sat and talked for another minute, when Piper and Hazel ententes the arena.

"What took you so long?" Jason asked.

"I had to wait for piper to get ready." Hazel answered. Piper blushed, and turned away.

"Typical Venus child." Reyna joked. Piper turned back to us, no longer blushing.

"Don't joke about that. I get enough of it from my cohort."

"Anyways." I say, trying to steer the conversation. "Should we wait for the others, or just mess around by ourselves for a while?"

"Percy. It's almost ten. The praetors are gonna be here soon with the rest of camp." Hazel told me. I quickly checked my iPod, and sure enough, the screen read 9:38. I sat down on the bench.

"Well, I guess we should just wait a bit longer. After another few minutes, the doors opened, and Justin and Amanda walked in, followed by Julius and Markus. They looked half surprised we were here, but also half not surprised.

"What are you four doing here?" Amanda asked, referring to the others.

"We came here to talk to Percy before he took the trials." Piper answered.

"You need to get to your cohorts. Everyone is supposed to arrive at ten exactly." Justin ordered.

"Oh. Sorry, we didn't know." Jason said. They got up and turned to me.

"Good luck Perce. We'll be watching you the whole time." Reyna said, giving me a hug. She pulled away and Jason was next. He held out his hand, but I pulled him in for a hug too. He didn't resist at all.

"Don't be stupid man. And good luck."

"Thanks." Once we had pulled away, he and Reyna left the stadium. Hazel approached me next, also hugging me.

"Please don't die Percy. I don't want Jason to be the prophecy child."

"Trust me, neither do I." We chuckled, and she pulled away. Finally was Piper. She seemed nervous, but eventually gave me a hug too. She pulled away almost immediately.

"Good luck Percy. Not that you really need it but…" she trailed off.

"Thank you Pipes. Now you should probably get to your cohort." I said. She nodded and left the arena with Hazel. I looked back to my mentors, only to notice none of them were standing there anymore. They had moved to the other side, and had started setting up a smaller version of Julius' altar. Once they were finished, they sat down to rest, panting and wheezing. I walked towards them, expecting hugs and comfort like my friends.

"Mind helping us out here waterboy?" Markus asked, through large gasps of air. I wasn't sure what he meant, until Julius cleared it up.

"Ignore my brother. He's quite cranky when he has to do work. He meant to say can you please give us some water."

"Ohhh right." I said. I began to summon some water, and places it in each other's heads. I didn't let them get wet, I just refreshed them and got rid of the water.

"Thanks kid." Justin said, standing up. "Make sure you're doing that to yourself a lot."

"But only when you have time. You don't want to tire yourself out too much." Markus warned.

"Also, be prepared for anything. If you want to win, you have to know how."

"And if you know you can't win, don't push it, obviously try, but don't over do it. Just make sure you show what you're capable of to the gods. Not everyone passed the trials and still got moved up." Heading all of these different things to help me, began to stress me out even more. Amanda seemed to notice this, and stepped towards me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Listen Percy. You're a good fighter, the gods know that. That means they're gonna give you a tough time, but one they know you can overcome. Just remember what you've been training for the past 2 years in Atlantis. And remember what we've taught you, whether it be fighting tips or strategies. You'll do fine."

"Thank you."

"Now we should probably get to our places. Julius, you know what to do. Markus, get your stuff ready in case someone needs it." Justin told them, Markus began to unpack his healing supplies, and set them up underneath the Praetor box. Justin and Amanda walked over the box and sat inside it. Julius pulled out a stuffed animal, and his knife, Prophecy, and began to summon the gods. Having nothing to do, I took my armour off, and cap Sonas, sitting down on one of the benches.

Not even knowing I drifted off to sleep, I was woken up by the doors opening. I jumped out of my seat, and saw the five cohorts piling into their seats. I got a lot of dirty looks from the first and second, but it warmed up greatly when the third entered. Once everyone had sat down and settled in, Justin stood up.

"Legionnaires. We are gathered today because of an event that hasn't taken place in many years. Today, someone wishes to take the trials." Now Amanda spoke.

"We are not the ones that are going to give the command however. Despite our leadership positions, this event reaches higher than us, and is left to the gods to decide the fate of our challenger. The Olympians do not visit often, so I expect everyone to be on their best behaviour."

"In order to enforce this, any time a god has to speak out to us, that will be three weeks of community service for everyone. Now, Augur Julius, if you would be so kind to call upon the council." Justin finished. Everyone turned to Julius, as he began to sacrifice a stuffed puppy. As soon as the stuffing hit the flames, a man flashed into the centre of the arena. The entire arena bowed to him, and he turned towards the praetor box.

"Legionnaires. I understand why we are here. My nephew wants to take in the trials. Thankfully we were informed this a while ago, and the council has come up with a suitable trial for him. Perseus, would you please make your way to the field." He looked right at me, and I briskly made my way over to him. "Young Perseus, the trials have not been attempted in many years. However, this does not mean we have forgotten the difficulty of them. We know you are currently residing in the third cohort, and you wish to move into the first. Due to the cohort you are starting in, and what you wish to move into, we have decided that you will face four enemies, in whatever order you want. The four we have chosen however, are as such: The Chimera, The Minotaur, The three Furies, and both centurions from the first cohort." The crowd looked at us in awe. A lot of people probably figured I was dead, but they don't know the training I've had. Jupiter looked at me expectantly, so I answered.

"I wish to start with the furies, my lord." I said. He nodded, before flashing out of the arena. Not many seconds later, a see through barrier appeared, encircling the arena, and reaching above the highest row in the stadium. I made my way to the praetor box, smiling at my four mentors as I did. They smiled back, and I turned around the face the centre of the arena. A few seconds later, my other uncle appeared in the arena. He sent a quick smile at Hazel, before turning towards me. He snapped his fingers, and three of the most disgusting creatures I've ever seen appeared. Pluto whispered something, before flashing out. A flash of lightning struck the arena, signaling the start of the fight. I slowly approached the centre of the arena, pulling my hood over my head. Once again, my armour appeared in a blue aura, and I uncapped my sword. By the time it was finished changing, one of the furies had began rushing towards me. It lashed its flaming whip at my face, but I easily sidestepped it. She went to claw at me, but I threw her back with a blast of water. I turned around, catching another ones talon with an ice shield. Attempting to counter attack, I was scratched on the back by the third ones claws. I turned around, flinging my shield at it, sending it crashing into the ground. Before the second one could recover, I turned back to it, stabbing it through the chest. They disappeared in a golden dust, and I turned back to the first one. They tried to whip me again, but I sidestepped again, slashing the whip in half. The third one had recovered, and they both lunged for me. I used water to propel me over them, landing on top of the first one. Jumping off of it, I did a twirl in the air, slicing right through its torso. Left with only the third one, I summoned an ice dagger, and chucked it at her. I controlled it to hit her in the wing, and I finished it off with a slice to the neck. Once it had been completely dusted, I walked back over to my starting point. I summoned some water, and used it to refresh myself. Although I didn't see him anywhere, I heard my father's voice in my head.

"Nicely done Percy. What do you wish to fight next?"

"Hi dad, uhhh, the Minotaur I guess." I answered. Without a response, the Minotaur appeared in the centre of the arena, already bellowing in anger. Without a second to think, it began charging towards me. Knowing I wouldn't be able to fight it with my sword for now, I capped it quickly. Once it had come close enough to me, I summoned a pool of water beneath me, and reappeared behind it. It smashed into the barrier right in front of The praetor box, and inches away from Markus and Julius. It recovered before I could attack it, charging at me again. I rolled between its legs, summoning an ice dagger to shove into its crotch. Once again, it bellowed at me, and this time charged with its legs closer together. Before I could jump over it this time, it slowed down slightly, and smashed its fists into the ground, hulk style. It caused a small tremor, but likely I trained to control those. I focused the shaking to underneath its feet, causing it to stumble. It fell with a large thud, and I lunged at it, while uncapping my sword again. Before I could stab it however, it caught me in its hand. He began squishing me slowly, but luckily I kept my composure. I summoned some water to surround me, not only healing my wounds, but I also willed it to explode into its paw as ice shards. It dropped me in surprise, and I fell on top of its head. I dropped my Sonas when I fell, so I decided to rip off its horn. I know I could've summoned a weapon, but I figured snapping the Minotaurs horn would show more power. It ripped off with a sickening crunch, and I drove it straight into its jugular. It disappeared into dust again, and I quickly began to heal myself. I picked Sonas back up, and summoned a pool of water underneath my feet. Once again I heard a voice in my head.

"Very impressive fight son. Now, the centurions, or the Chimera?"

"The Chimera. And thanks dad." I could feel him smile in my head, but was quickly distracted by a giant monster cat appearing in the centre of the arena. Wanting to get the first strike this time, I rushed at it. As I approached it, I lunged over it, turning around in the air, and slashed at his leg. It tried to turn out of the way, but I caught it, sending a deep cut into its back right leg. It lunged at me, it's Lion head showing its fangs. I summoned an ice shield, bashing it in the face before it could hit me. It stumbled back, and I created a geyser underneath it. I fainted a slash at its face, forcing it to step back. While it's front hooves were in the air, I exploded the geyser, sending it into the air. It came crashing back down, letting out a roar as it stood up. It's second head turned towards me, though the goat was a lot less menacing than the lion. That thought was quickly put away, when flames erupted from its mouth. I summoned water as quick as possible, using it to block the fire. I expanded the barrier to completely screen me, and then created a pool of water beneath me. I jumped into the water, appearing behind it. I let the barrier drop, and jumped on top of it. I shoved my sword into its back, but its snake tail caught me before it could completely disappear. I cried out in pain, summoning water to suppress the pain, and restore my wound from poison. It closed up immediately, but the pain stayed for a bit. As I was dealing with that, Sophie and Theo, the first cohorts centurions entered the battlefield. This was gonna be a hard fight, considering they were 19 and 17 respectfully, and were both the children of war gods. Sophie was the daughter of Mars, and the oldest, and best fighting centurion in camp. Theo was the son of Bellona, and was right next to Sophie in skill, though with less experience. They were wearing their armour, and each had a sword. Before the match could start, Mars flashed onto the field.

"Hey kid. Some people argued that since you're facing two people, you can chose a second weapon. You want anything?" He asked me.

"Uhh. Can I get a shield?" I ask him.

"Sure thing. Here you go kid." He said, summoning a shield for me. It wasn't the same material as my armour and sword, but I'd rather have that over nothing. Before he left, he turned towards his daughter. "Kick his ass girl." He said, before flashing back out. She smiled, and got into her battle stance. Once we were all ready, lightning flashed again, and we all rushed forward. I met Sophie's sword with my shield, and sent a slash at Theo right after. He dodged, swiping at my head. I used water to push his blade away from me, and blocked Sophie's next strike with my blade. I kicked her back, and quickly turned back to Theo, jabbing him in the stomach with my shield. I swiped at Sophie's leg, knocking her off balance. I turned back to Theo, blocking a stab with my shield, and slicing at his neck. He backed up, and I bashed him with my shield. He stumbled, but I was quickly cut off by a slash at my arm. I sidestepped quickly, but Sophie still managed to catch me slightly. She must've caught a nerve, because I immediately dropped my shield. I sprayed her back, slashing Theos chest before her could lunge. I summoned a dagger that hit his sword arm, right in the shoulder. He dropped his weapon in pain, and I quickly dropped into a pool of water. I narrowly avoided Sophie's blade, but I appeared behind Theo, knocking him out with my hilt. He dropped to the ground, and a mixture of cheers and boos sounded throughout the arena. Seeing her fellow centurion knocked out sent Sophie into a rage. A blood red aura surrounded her, and she lunges at me again. I blocked her strike with my sword, but the force made me stumble. By letting her follow up, I created a glove of ice, punching her backwards. She recovered, and fainted a stab at my stomach. I blocked the attack, but was quickly hit with a jab to the face. Blood sprayed from my nose, but I raised my sword to block another slash. I swiped at her left with an ice sword, and her block shattered it. She swiped right at my chest, quickly followed with a left slash to my leg. I dodged the first, and blocked the slash. I countered with a slash left at her chest. She blocked it, and I sprayed water on her face. She ducked the stream, coming up with a knee at my crotch. As soon as it connected, I dropped to the ground. Not being an idiot, I water travellers a few feet away from her. You could hear every male in the arena close their legs, almost like they felt the pain. I used the water to refresh me, but it was more nerve pinching than actual damage. I was fully recovered after a few seconds, and began rushing towards her. She rushed as well, and we met halfway. She lunges at the last second, and I held my sword straight up to block. Our momentum sent us past each other, so as I slid, I turned towards her and slashed at her left side. She also twisted, and blocks the strike. She countered with a downwards swipe which I sidestepped. She continued with a slash at my right. I parried her blade, and sliced her right side. I noticed her aura fading slowly, so I quickly followed with a kick to the stomach. I sprayed a large stream of water her, and since she was already stumbling, she hit the ground. The power of the water, and the momentum of the fall, was enough to knock her out. After everyone gave her a few seconds to recover, and her staying on the ground, cheers erupted. The entirety of the camp stood up and cheered, including the first and the second. I knew it had nothing to do with me winning, and more due to the fact that it was a good fight, but I was fine with it. Once the Praetors had calmed everyone down, two figures flashed beside me. I knew Jupiter was one of them, but the other looked more like Apollo. I say that because instead of saying anything to me, he helped Markus with Sophie's body, and began to talk to him and Markus. I turned back to Jupiter, and he gestured for me to kneel.

"Percy Jackson. You managed to complete the trials we assigned to you, and managed to give us quite the spectacle while doing this. While I am surprised how accomplished with your powers and fighting skills, the council has granted you two things. The first, is entry to the first cohort, as you originally wanted. However, the second is something we settled in after seeing how good you were on the battlefield. As my son has already explained to your Augur here, we have decided to grant you with a quest. You will get the details from my son Apollo, and you Augur when you go to the temple. Now, legionnaires, celebrate hard, but train harder!" He shouted, before exiting. The legion cheered, and began to exit the arena. Before I could leave too, I was attacked by 14 different people.

"Nice job kid! We told you that you got it." Justin said. He fist-bumped me, and began to leave.

"We have to go deal with the paperwork of your transfer, but you did great Percy." Amanda said, catching up to Justin. Next was my old centurions.

"Holy shit dude! I can't believe you took out Sophie and Theo like that!" Kiara shouted, giving me a friendly hug.

"And nice idea with the Minotaur horn. But uh-how are the downstairs?" James asked.

"Better now. Thank god water heals me." I said. He chuckled, and returned to leading the third from the arena. I saw a lot of my friends there, and they all waved and smiled at me. Lastly, we're my friends. I was tackled on both sides by Reyna and Piper, which somehow hurt more than the trials. It didn't help that Alyssa, Hazel, and Gwen quickly followed suit.

"Guys. Just fought five monsters and two centurions. I don't want to die from a hug." They chuckled, and all pulled away.

"Holy shit Percy. I've never seen Sophie lose before!" Reyna exclaimed.

"And that water travel move with the Chimera. How did your stupid brain come up with that?" Piper asked.

"You guys are forgetting that he literally ripped the Minotaurs horn from its head!" Frank shouted.

"Or the part where-"

"Okay, okay." I said cutting Jason off. "We were all there. Now can I get some rest. Being a badass come with a price.

"Tell me about it." Leo said. We all chuckled at that as we left the arena.

"Leo, you're the exact opposite of a badass." Alyssa joked.

 _Line Break_

I spent the next few minutes talking with my friends as I walked towards the Apollo temple. Once we had reached the doors I turned to them.

"I don't know if you guys are supposed to come in or not."

"Probably not. He said this was your quest." Piper said.

"Don't worry. I'll message you guys all of the information when I'm done." I said. They all said their goodbyes. And I made my way inside the temple. When I walked inside, I saw Apollo, talking with Markus and Julius about how he met their mothers. It seemed to be an awkward conversation, because as soon as I entered, they shot up out of their chairs.

"Perseus. It's nice to finally meet you. Good job at the trials." Apollo said, reaching out to shake my hand.

"It's nice to meet you too lord Apollo."

"I'm sure it is." He said. "Now. We should begin the ceremony."

"Uhh dad." Apollo turned to face Julius. "You need to tell us the details before we do that, remember."

"Oh, right. How could I forget." He turned back towards me. "Percy. You caused quite an uproar on Olympus today. Some gods see you as a threat, while other believe you are the greater how to ever live. Luckily for you, the good outweigh the bad, and so it was decided you would receive a quest."

"What is the for?" I asked him.

"Recently, we have been hearing complaints from many minor gods, that their children are experiencing a lot of difficulty reaching camp from the opposite east coast. The main area of attraction is New York, and we think it has to do with Medusa. Unfortunately, gods can't interfere with Monsters unless provoked, so we're giving the task to you." I sighed a breath of relief. Apollo turned towards Julius, motioning him to step up to the altar. Julius grabbed a stuffed animal off the wall, and pulled Prophecy out of its sheath. He knelt in front of the altar, and began muttering to himself. "Well. I believe my time here is over. I'll hopefully be seeing you all soon." Apollo said. Markus gave him a very awkward hug, and Apollo flashed out of the room.

"You need to join him up there Percy. It's how you see what to do." Markus told me.

"Oh. Okay." I answered. I made my way up the steps, kneeling in the spot next to Julius. I looked towards the flame, and noticed it wasn't like a normal fire. The coals and the flames were moving around, showing a distorted image of Medusa. After a few seconds of looking at that, Julius stood back up. I turned to look up at him, and saw his eyes had turned a sickly green shade. I slowly stood up to face him.

"Ask a question Percy." Markus advised.

"Uh. How do I find Medusa?" I asked Julius. Although he was the ones moving his mouth, the voice that came out was old, and withered. It had a raspy tone, which made the situation much more scary than before.

"Three shall travel to the gorgon's lair.

They shall fight the Queen, and be ill-prepared. 

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

And you shall find a new partner that will help in the end." 

Julius began to stumble forwards, before Markus and I caught him. It took a few seconds, but eventually he came back into consciousness.

"What did I say?" He asked. I recited the prophecy to him, and he smiled. "That doesn't sound too bad."

"I hope not. But the part with the fighting the Queen is confusing." I answered.

"I'm sure it means Medusa. And the ill prepared is probably just about not having too much field experience." Markus assured. I wasn't as confident in that as him, but stressing over it wasn't going to change the outcome of a prophecy.

"I should probably go tell the praetors what the prophecy said. Percy, you should get packing, and think about who you're bringing with you." Julius told me. He left the room, and Markus said bye to me too.

"I'm gonna try to talk to my dad for a second. Good luck with moving into the first." He said. I completely forgot about that until now, but I still have to move into the first cohort. I exited the temple, and began to feel light headed. I summoned some water to refresh myself, and tried to clear my thoughts. Sure, most of the cohort would hate me for beating their centurions and being a son of Neptune, but some of them will hopefully be able to see my power and strength. My wishful thinking kept up all the way to my cohort, where it was escalated even more. As soon as I stepped through the front door, I was met with a group of 20 people jumping out at me and yelling their congratulations. At the front, James and Kiara held up a banner that read 'get out of our barracks!' I chuckled as I read it, and walked into the front room. All four trainers were here, as well as all my friends from the cohort.

"Congrats on the promotion kid. We're gonna miss messing around with you all of the time." James said.

"You know, I don't understand why you keep calling me 'kid', when I could kick your ass any day." I joked. We all laughed and he dropped the banner.

"And who taught you how to kick my ass?" He questioned.

"Me, Austin, Parker, Breanna, his brother, elite Atlantean fighters." Chelsea teased.

"Hey! I taught him how to make tacos!" He argued.

"Anyways. We have to get to the arena for practice. But before we go, mind telling us the prophecy?" Austin asked. Everyone sat down, and I recited it for the second time today.

"Shit man. That sounds pretty cool." Vince, the son of Aeolus said.

"Other than the fighting the Queen part, it doesn't sound too bad." Nina added.

"Yeah well, I'm sure Michael Varus said that when he left for his quest." Jackson, a son of Venus said.

"Jesus man. Maybe don't tell the twelve year old he's gonna be the next Michael Varus." Alessia, a daughter of Apollo chided.

"Its fine. I don't want to be too overconfident." I told her.

"So, do you know who you're bringing?" Parker asked me.

"Not really. I can't pick two people without the other sixty people I know getting mad."

"Listen. I can't speak for everyone, but I know most us won't care if you pick us." Logan, a daughter of Venus told me.

"Agreed. We wouldn't be mad at you knowing you have so many choices." Liam said.

"In that case, I was thinking of bringing Jason and Reyna. That way we could expand our teamwork and everything so it'll be pretty good when I officially move into the first." I answered. James and Kiara stood up, quickly followed by the others.

"Well, it's about time we get back to training. Sorry we won't be able to help you pack Percy, but I don't think Ian is doing the best job training right now." Kiara told me.

"No problem. And thanks for the advice guys." I said. They said their goodbyes, and I made my way to my bed. I packed my few clothes and belongings into my backpack, and made my way to the praetor house.

Once I reached the doors, I opened them up to see Jason and Reyna inside, talking with Justin and Amanda.

"Percy! It took you long enough." Reyna complained.

"Thank god you're here. These two a very annoying when they're bored." Justin joked. 'Good thing I'm moving in with them.' I thought.

"What are you two doing here anyways?" I asked them.

"We wanted to ask you something." Jason answered.

"And like we said 17 times, we have to talk to Percy about the quest before you can do that." Amanda said, clearly annoyed too.

"Fine. We'll be waiting outside." He said, very upset. He and Reyna left the Praetor house, and I sat across from Justin and Amanda.

"So, Percy. Are you ready for your quest?" Justin asked.

"Wait, I'm leaving now?!"

"Oh gods no. You leave tomorrow, he just meant are you prepared." Amanda corrected.

"Oh. I guess I am. The only thing I don't have is who I'm gonna bring."

"Well. I'm sure there are two people very eager to help you." Amanda said, gesturing towards the doors.

"I guess you're right. I just don't know if I can handle all of the rivalry for that long."

"Think of it this way. You're gonna be dealing with it until you become Praetor. Then you and Reyna can increase for a year or two, and then you'll start dating." He leaned towards and loudly whispered something. "After that, the rivalry becomes more of her being right and you always being wrong." We chuckled, but Amanda elbowed him in the arm.

"Oh shut up Justin." She scolded. Justin pontes his thumb at Amanda.

"What did I say!" He shouted.

"Now on to actually important conversation. Is there anything you need before you leave Percy?" Amanda asked.

"Not really. I just came to get advice on who to bring, and move into cohort one. Oh! And I had a question for Justin."

"What's up?" He asked.

"We were playing hide and seek the other day, and for the first round I hid in the treasury downstairs."

"Uhhh. Okay…"

"Basically, I was looking through all the stuff, and I noticed the Titan sword you found at Othrys was missing."

"Ahh yes. What happened was I tried to get Charles to sharpen my old sword, as it wasn't enchanted like yours or Amanda's. Unfortunately, he thought it was made of an imperial gold and regular gold alloy, but it was only imperial gold. This caused him to use the wrong temperature or something, so my sword was completely destroyed. I didn't want to have to forge and design a new one, and I remembered I had found this a few years ago. Luckily it has some magic infused in it or something, so that'll never happen again."

"Ohhhh. I thought somebody stole it from down there."

"Nah, I just thought I'd try it out, and I ended up liking it. Now, we should probably head to the first's barracks and get you set up." He confirmed. The three of us stood up and walked outside, only to see Reyna and Jason weren't there anymore.

"They're probably waiting for us at the barracks." Amanda suggested.

After walking back through the entire city again, we finally reach the first cohorts barracks. Justin and Amanda talked to the bow recovered Sophie and Theo, who were surprisingly accepting of me. Before the praetors left, they came and said bye to me.

"Alright. You're in the third room, and any unmarked bed is free to choose." Amanda's informed me.

"You should probably get to sleep. You've got a long night of thinking about who to bring, but I'd advise to chose Reyna and Jason." Justin told me.

"Whowever you choose though, must meet us at the praetor house with you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock. From there we'll talk about transportation." Amanda finished. We said our goodbyes, and I went to my bedroom. I looked around for a minute, until I found Reyna and Jason's beds. I set my stuff up at the one beside Reyna's, and climbed under the covers. It wasn't too early, so it was acceptable to sleep, but nobody was in the room with me. I wasn't complaining, as I was able to fall asleep immediately.


End file.
